Thursday, October 16, 2008 No MILF members in Cebu: police
THE arrest of a woman who allegedly sent a letter about a bomb threat against the courts in Mandaue and Cebu cities should reassure the public that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) isn’t in Cebu, the police said yesterday.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Ronald Roderos said the letter was sent only to bid for time to postpone the trial of the suspect’s estafa case before Judge Teresita Galanida of the Regional Trial Court Branch 56 in Mandaue.
A similar letter was sent to Judge Soliver Peras in Cebu City, where the suspect, Erlinda Cagata, faces a separate case.
The letter-sender described herself as the wife of a Moro Islamic Liberation Front leader. Cagata’s husband is a shipping employee who was laid off after 23 years of service.
Still, security remained tight at the Mandaue City Palace of Justice yesterday, while Cagata waited in the Subangdaku detention cell for her day in Judge Galanida’s court. The judge was in Davao for an official function.
Because the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) arrested Cagata “in record time,” Roderos said commendations and medals will be given to the operatives during the flag ceremony at the PRO 7 headquarters on Monday.
Roderos said he hopes the MCPO under the command of officer-in-charge Supt. Vicente Mersan Premne would serve as a challenge for the other police offices.
“I hope they would emulate this,” he said.
He also recognized the help of the LBC employee whose cooperation led to the identification and arrest of the suspect.
Roderos said the police in Mandaue City will file a complaint of grave threats and “using a fictitious name” against Cagata.
Article 178 of the Revised Penal Code prohibits the use of a fictitious name “for the purpose of concealing a crime, evading the execution of a judgment or causing damage.”
Premne sent Cagata to the PNP Crime Laboratory yesterday so experts could compare her handwriting with the two letters she allegedly sent to the judges.
The letter-sender said that her husband’s group was on “a mission” to bomb the Court of Justice in Mandaue City, in time for the courts to start hearing cases at 9 a.m. last Monday. She suggested postponing the hearings until next year.
Judge Galanida issued a warrant for Cagata’s arrest after the latter failed to attend her estafa hearing last Monday. (She was late.) No bail was set.
Police are now preparing additional charges against Cagata, for grave threats and using a fictitious name.
In an interview yesterday, Premne said that Cagata’s husband was a ship chief purser of Sulpicio Lines for 23 years but was laid off when the ship he was assigned to was dry-docked.
Mandaue’s police already sent to the regional office their initial findings that Cagata’s connection with MILF was not fully established.
Police investigator SPO4 Ariston Batalona explained they will continue holding Cagata on the basis of Judge Galanida’s bench warrant.
Judge Galanida is expected to stay in Davao until Friday, but is also scheduled to report to Dumaguete City for a week starting Oct. 20, where she presides over another sala. (JTG/OCP)
