Female guard loses P200,000 cash, jewelry to thief in Mandaue

Mary Ann Cantila, whose P200,000 worth of cash and jewelry was stolen, appeals to the thief to just return her IDs that she would need for her work as a female guard. | Mary Rose Sagarino

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — A female security guard lost more than P200,000 in cash and jewelry after these were stolen at the guard house while she was patrolling the premises of the company that she was securing.

Mary Ann Cantila, 42, who also loans money and sacks of rice on the side, said that the unidentified thief took her bag with the money and jewelry at 1:52 a.m. on Thursday, June 8.

How it was stolen

Cantila said that the bag was inside the company’s guardhouse and that she was at that time patrolling another part of the area of the company premises when the theft happened.

She said when she heard dogs barking near the guardhouse, she hurriedly went back but she did not see anyone there.

But when she checked the things inside the guardhouse, she found out that her bag with money and valuables was gone.

Inside job

She said she believed that this was an inside job and that she suspected somebody but she would not accuse anybody unless she had proof.

That is why she went to the Mandaue City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office to find out if there was any video footage that could have caught the thief at that time, who jumped over the gate of the company.

Unfortunately, the personnel at the CDRRMO told her that the camera at that area was not working and needed to fixed.

The company also provided her with the video footage of the alleged thief but the video could not give the identity of the culprit since it was blurry.

Cantila worked as a female guard in a company in Barangay Alang-Alang. She was also only temporarily residing in the barangay as she was originally from Villegas town in Negros Oriental.

Female guard: Why it was an inside job

“Dili man sad ko katuo nga gawas ang nagkuha o dili kaila dinha kay ang cash nga naa sa hunos ug cellphone sa company duha kabuok, wala man gyud niya hilabti. Ngano’ng ang akoang bag ra man gyud ang iyang focus og punit, so nakabantay gyud siya, nakahibawo nga naa didto tanan,” said Cantila on why she believed that this was an inside job.

(I could not believe that somebody that did not knew her was the one who took the cash because among the valuable things inside the drawer where she placed the bag such as two cell phones of the company, which the thief left behind. The focus was on taking the bag, so the thief already know that all her money and jewelry were inside the bag.)

Cantila said she wanted to get a clear copy of the CCTV footage because she did not want to point fingers without proof.

Money lost was for her small business

She said she could have used the money that was stolen to purchase sacks of rice and also to lend it to her clients.

She said she also lost her identification cards and license which were all in the bag that was taken.

“Ang ako lang (panawagan sa nagkuha) kung dili na mauli ang kwarta, pwede lang ang akoang mga ID, lisensya, para makapanarbaho na lang sad jud ko. Iampo na lang nako siya sa Ginoo. Grabe jud siya og gibuhat,” said Cantila.

(My appeal now to the thief that if he or she would not return the money, then just return my IDs and license so that I can work. I will just pray you to God. What you did was really horrible.)

Cantila is a single mother and the only child of her parents. She also supports them financially.

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