City Hall to post 2-week notices

Saturday, January 21, 2012

A FAMILY who claims to own the gold jewelry found by scavengers in the dumpsite in Mandaue City last week failed to claim the items yesterday after police turned these over to the City Government.

Police officials of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) turned over pieces of jewelry worth close to P.5 million pesos to Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes yesterday morning.

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With the jewelry already in the hands of the government, Cortes said potential claimants must follow legal processes, including the presentation of supporting documents, before they can claim the items.

But while they failed to claim the items yesterday, the family of businessman Vicente H. Tan, through their lawyer, told reporters they will submit their claim to the city mayor.

Chief Insp. Michael Bastes and Insp. Ramil Morpus of the MCPO Investigation and Detective Management Branch (IDMB) formally turned over the items to Cortes at around 10 a.m. yesterday.

The items were two gold rings, a gold bracelet and a gold necklace, P36,500 cash and a pawnshop receipt.

Bastes said that based on the law, once an item of value has been recovered, it must be turned over to the custody of the City Government.

Cortes, in a press conference yesterday, said that with the jewelry under their custody, they will be issuing a two-week notice to the public to give a chance to other claimants.

After the two-week period lapses, the Mandaue City Government will start validating the claims within six months.

Cortes said that they will be coordinating with the MCPO in investigating other claimants.

If no claimant comes forward, Cortes said the items will be divided 50-50 between the finders and the City Government as stated by law.

But after the jewelry was turned over to Cortes, Tan and his family, represented by lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna, came to the Mandaue City Hall yesterday to make their claim.

Tan wanted to claim the jewelry — including a gold class ring with his name on it — yesterday morning, but to no avail.

Dela Cerna, however, submitted Tan’s affidavit of claim and ownership to Cortes’ office, in compliance with the mayor’s order on the screening of potential claimants.

Tan, who was present with his family yesterday, refused to comment.

Dela Cerna said Tan and his family respect Cortes’ order to have the claims on the items processed.

Dela Cerna, however, insisted the items really belonged to Tan and his family. He said they can provide affidavits of witnesses, including Tan’s housemaids and the garbage truck driver of Barangay Cabancalan, to support their claim.

Proof

The lawyer ealier said the jewelry may have been thrown along with some termite-infested shelves.

But for Mandaue City Legal Officer Giovanni Tianero, Tan’s claim has to be investigated.

Tianero said even if Tan provides affidavits to support his claim, this is not enough.

He said Tan can provide solid proof such as receipts, proofs of ownership and even pictures of him or any of his family members wearing the said items to further support his claim.

Dela Cerna, in reply to Tianero’s comment, said his clients are getting additional documents.

But Dela Cerna said it may take Tan and his family some time to find the receipts and proofs of ownerships that they need since the jewelry has been with them for many years.

Police also said that aside from Tan, officials of the MLhuillier Pawnshop Inc. also came to the MCPO headquarters to see if the jewelry found may have been part of the stolen loot that was taken from their custody a year ago.

In a separate development, Morpus said that aside from the remaining jewelry and cash that they have recovered from the scavengers, a broken gold watch was believed to have been part of the items that were lost.

Morpus told reporters they have identified a scavenger who may have the item, but it seems that he has left the area.

The watch, though broken, is believed to be worth P15,000.

Last Jan. 12, scavengers Rodrigo Corta, Antonio Quizon and Eda Montecalvo found jewelry in the Barangay Umapad dumpsite.

Corta, 55, found two gold rings (including a class ring), two gold bracelets and a gold necklace. He had pawned one of the bracelets for P127, 000.

Quizon, 48, found a gold bracelet studded with diamonds, while fellow scavenger Montecalvo, 24, found another bracelet, which she sold for P15,000.