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Saturday, July 16, 2005
No complainants v. hold-upper; city, cops dismayed
By Maricar Aranas
THE Dumaguete City police is dismayed that almost a week after the arrest of notorious hold-upper Renante Calunod, some of his victims are yet to file a complaint.
City Chief of Police Manuel Hidalgo said Calunod has been positively identified in the series of hold-ups in Dumaguete City, but that none of the victims has so far filed formal charges against him.
Chief Inspector Hidalgo said the suspect was positively identified by the attendant of the gasoline station in Barangay Bagacay owned by Barangay Captain Vincent Perigua, which was held up last month.
He was also identified by the victims of the hold up in Saint Moritz, Barangay Agan-an, Sibulan recently, Hidalgo said.
But as of press time, the victims have yet to file their complaints.
The police chief said he was following up the hold-up cases in Sibulan to find if Calunod has a pending complaint to bolster the city's charges against him.
At the moment, Hidalgo said, despite the unwillingness of the victims to cooperate with the city police, they would push through with the charges for illegal possession of firearms and violation of the illegal drugs law against Calunod.
The chief inspector renewed his challenge to the victims to come out in the open to make sure that the suspect would stay in jail.
He said he is concerned over the possibility that Calunod could skip imprisonment because police have a weak case against him.
Calunod is also the suspect in the murder of Provincial Jail guard Deogracias Boquiran last month.
Police arrested the suspect in Barangay Tinago last July 8. Calunod tried to escape by pulling out a gun but the arresting officers were too quick for him and fired hitting the suspect on the arms.
A bodily search on the suspect yielded two plastic sachets containing what is believed to be shabu and a computer lap top charger.
During investigation, Calunod denied involvement in the series of hold ups in the city. He said he was forced to carry a gun for self-protection after learning he was a suspect in the killing of Boquiran.
He admitted knowing the slain jail guard because he was once detained at the Provincial Jail.
Meantime, Hidalgo said his men are now monitoring the city for Calunod's seven other companions in the series of hold-ups in Dumaguete.
The suspect is, as of press time, on tight security at the Negros oriental Provincial Hospital where he is undergoing treatment for bullet wounds.
(July 14, 2005 issue)
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