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Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Christmas ‘generally peaceful’
By Oscar C. Pineda & Rose O. Verzosa
Sun.Star Staff Reporters
EXCEPT for a few cases of minor injuries due to firecracker explosion, celebration of the Christmas weekend in Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu Cities was generally peaceful.
The Mandaue City police, however, were not as busy as their counterpart in Lapu-Lapu City, where stabbing and robbery incidents were also reported.
Lapu-Lapu City Police Chief Louie Oppus said they rounded up numerous illegal firecracker dealers outside designated areas, and conducted series of checkpoints.
He told Sun.Star yesterday that most of the crimes committed on Dec. 24 and 25 were the result of intoxication.
On Dec. 24, a woman in Barangay Marigondon fell victim to robbers. Luckily, the woman had just deposited P100,000 to the bank when the robbers waylaid her and took her P2,000 cash.
That same day, anti-drugs operatives invited for questioning two men from Ozamiz City and a woman believed to be a drug user.
The three were inside a hotel room near Gaisano Mactan and were earlier reported to be armed with handguns.
The group was later released after police failed to find any incriminating evidence against them.
Still on Dec. 24, a man fell into a ditch just as he was about to cross a bridge in Barangay Babag going to Cordova.
Oppus said the man was avoiding an exploding firecracker when he swerved to the right and fell into the ditch.
Christmas violence
At 12:30 a.m. on Christmas Day in Barangay Pajac, Jason Apa allegedly stabbed Protacio Formento Cuico Jr. in the back.
Apa fled while Cuico is now recuperating in the hospital.
Later at 6 a.m., a private jeep fell on the roadside near GMC while descending the Mactan-Mandaue bridge. The driver, believed to be drunk, was taken to the hospital.
Police also confiscated two barrels full of firecrackers that were sold outside the designated areas.
The confiscated items were immediately soaked in water.
No major incidents
Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) Director Edgardo Ingking, for his part, said there were no incidents of death or injuries caused by stray bullets in the city.
None of the policemen assigned in Mandaue fired their guns during the holidays and no major crime incidents were reported.
So far, there were 15 individuals reported to have suffered minor burns caused by firecracker explosion.
They were treated as outpatients at the Mandaue City Hospital and Cortes General Hospital, both in Mandaue City, and at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.
Appeal
With New Year’s Eve still to come, both Oppus and Ingking urged the public to take all precautionary measures whenever they light firecrackers.
“Since lighting up firecrackers could not be totally prevented as it has become a tradition, my advise is for the people to exert all precautionary measures,” Ingking said in the dialect.
He also urged Manda-uehanons to light their firecrackers only in the designated “firecracker zone” in each of the 27 barangays.
For those who have taken some liquor, Ingking advised them not to light the firecrackers themselves but give it to other people who are more sober to prevent accidents.
Oppus, for his part, said merry-makers should not play firecrackers on the streets to avoid traffic accidents.
‘Robber’ falls
Meanwhile, a suspect in the payroll robbery in Paknaan, Mandaue City two months ago was arrested by police last Dec. 24.
Ingking said that his men, armed with an arrest warrant, collared taxi driver Dodie Cabasag near an uptown hotel along Ramos St., Cebu City around 10:45 p.m.
Cabasag is facing a case for robbery with physical injuries with the Mandaue City Regional Trial Court, with bail recommended at P200,000.
Robert Gelbolingo, 38, Welldone Job Inc. manager, was driving a pick-up and was already near their client’s firm in Barangay Paknaan when Cabasag and five other men allegedly ambushed them and grabbed their P360,000 payroll last Oct. 30.
Two of the suspects then started shooting, hitting Gelbolingo and his companion in the front seat.
(December 28, 2004 issue)
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