Monday, September 29, 2008 Homeowner files robbery case vs. demolition team
AFTER she lost cash and jewelry, a Poblacion Pardo, Cebu City resident has sued a court sheriff and a nine-man team that demolished her house.
Jane Bajarias filed a criminal complaint of robbery against Constancio Alimurong and nine unidentified men last Wednesday.
Alimurong is the sheriff of Regional Trial Court Branch 18.
Bajarias alleged that after her house was torn down last Sept. 18, she inspected her belongings and found out that P36,000 in cash and P18,000 worth of jewelry were missing.
She also could not find two cell phones that cost P4,000 each and an electric wire.
Her husband, Melante, also claimed that there were lapses in the implementation of the demolition order.
He and Jane narrated in separate affidavits that they left their house at 7:30 a.m. last Sept. 18.
Jane brought their child to a school in Barangay Mambaling, and stopped by an acquain-tance’s residence before going home.
When she arrived home at 10:00 a.m., their house was already “70 percent demolished.”
Alimurong, she said, was there with a court-issued writ of demolition.
Jane complained that her family had not been given any prior notice.
Alimurong, she said, allegedly answered that there was “no need,” which was the same reply he gave when she further argued that the order should not have been
implemented because no one was home.
Nick Hongcuay also supported his neighbors’ claim, saying the Bajariases were not around when demolition began.
In an affidavit, he said that no barangay official or Commission on Urban Poor representative was present when Alimurong and the team carried out the court order.
Two Pardo Police Station officers, though, were present during the demolition.
Aside from the loss of cash and jewelry, the Bajariases also alleged that a stereo component, a television set, and three chairs suffered some damage, which they pegged at P14,200.
Jane and Melante said they bought the house in 2003 and had since lived there. (KAB)
