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Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Young man held for P1.5M cash, later freed
By Rex C. Otero
DAVAO CITY -- A young man stirred suspicion and was held for a short interrogation at the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal (DCott) at around 10 a.m. Monday after he was found bringing P1.5 million in cash.
Avelino Palomado, 20, of Matan-ao, Davao del Sur, however, was allowed to proceed to Digos City afterwards since authorities could not find any reason to detain him.
He was escorted to Digos City by police and military agents.
Authorities said the huge amount of carried cash was reason to interrogate Palomado.
A Task Force Davao (TFD) official, who requested anonymity, said Palomado was held at the checkpoint behind Gate 4 of the terminal. When interrogated, Palomado reportedly said he was on an errand.
The official said the task force called up Camp Catitipan and asked for member of the Regional Mobile Group to escort Palomado. "Duda lang kasi kami dahil sa kalaki ng pera," the official said. (We were suspicious because of the huge sum of money involved.)
Palomado was about to ride a bus to Digos City when checked by a group led by Staff Sgt. Romero Soriano of the 7th Special Forces of the TFD.
Bundles of cash were placed inside four plastic bags in Palomado's backpack.
Palomada said that he was just sent by his employer (name withheld) to deliver the money to Digos.
He added that this was the seventh time he was sent on such an errand, although this was the first time the amount was that big. Palomado said he is a worker in a banana and pineapple plantation in Maramag, Bukidnon.
He added that on these errands he is just instructed to wait for a motorcycle-riding man in front of Gaisano Center in Digos. He doesn't know who that man is although he knows him by face, he said.
The TFD official said the elements sent out to escort Palomado still hasn't returned as of Monday, as the man who is supposed to pick up the cash had not yet shown up.
(February 10, 2004 issue)
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