Tuesday, January 30, 2007 Robbers rip off firm twice, walk off with P800-T By Stephen Capillas
AROUND P800,000 or more than half a million pesos in cash and equipment were robbed from a small construction office in Barangay 21, Corrales Extension, Cagayan de Oro City last Sunday.
According to reports, GTS Construction and Development Corp. was robbed twice in one week.
The Anti-Theft and Robbery Section (ATRS) said it is pursuing the robbers linked to the twin burglaries but added that these two robberies may be part of an inside job.
Barangay 21 chairman Gonzalo Go reportedly owned the construction office.
Cagayan de Oro City Police Director Aurelio Trampe said an investigation into the incident is underway.
According to the police, three robbers broke their way to the construction office by tearing off part of the portion of the office that had been repaired and cemented following the first break-in.
Around P300,000 in cash and valuables were taken by the robbers in the first robbery.
The area damaged during the first robbery is said to be occupied by the office's air-conditioning unit.
It was not known what instrument was used by the robbers to break in. Initial reports though states the thieves employed a crowbar to make their way into the place.
According to some of the office employees there were no security guards employed in the place because the office is brightly lit.
Aside from this, the employees reasoned that Go always makes his rounds or patrols in the surrounding area with some village police and thus supposedly did not feel the need to employ security guards.
The robbers made off with several hundred thousand pesos worth of cash, several construction equipment and office facilities as well as 10 cellphone units, at least two pistols, and some checks with an undetermined value.
The ATRS said the total amount stolen from the two robberies may well run up to more than P1 million.
As of now they have yet to confirm any identification of suspects in the crime.
The ATRS cited the possibility of an inside job owing to the ease with which the robbers managed to break into the office.
