ALTHOUGH the driver of the Yamaha NMAX motorcycle identified by Jessie Cañete as his companion in the robbery of a young man in Barangay Tisa, Cebu City on Sunday, September 22, 2024, Richard Calunsag alias Etchay, 27, of Barangay Ermita, Cebu City, denied the allegations against him.
Calunsag surrendered to Barangay Captain Mark Rizaldy Villa Miral and revealed in an interview with SunStar Cebu that he had no knowledge about the robbery in Tisa, as he was at home during the incident.
His live-in partner confirmed that during that time, he had a toothache and did not leave the house.
However, Calunsag admitted that he knew Cañete because they both worked as e-bike drivers in the downtown area, and the motorcycle seized by the police was his.
Police Major Eraño Regidor, chief of the Labangon Police Station, clarified that it was not the police who implicated Calunsag but rather Jessie Cañete, who confessed that Calunsag was his driver when they fled after stealing the cellphone of a man named Donvil.
Donvil was using his cellphone by the side of F. Pacaña Street in Barangay Tisa when the suspect arrived and immediately pointed a gun at him around 3 a.m. on Sunday.
Out of fear, Donvil handed over his cellphone worth P7,000, and the robber quickly fled on a waiting Yamaha NMAX motorcycle.
"Sa viral video ni deny siya, pero gisuka na siya sa iyang kauban nga si Jessie, Positive pud siya nga identified sa victim nga maoy atung witness," Regidor said.
(In the viral video, he denied it, but his companion, Jessie, already confessed. He was also positively identified by the victim, who is our witness).
Calunsag further claimed that the CCTO sticker on his motorcycle came from his father, a former traffic enforcer.
Regidor also disclosed that more victims of robberies would come forward to file complaints with the Labangon Police Station after learning that Cañete had been arrested. (AYB, TPT)