ILOILO City – Sam Jan Cel Villegas was nursing an amputated leg in a hospital in Molo district when police officers served him a warrant of arrest for “robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons.”
Villegas lost his right foot after a piece of equipment fell on him at a building under construction along Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue in Barangay Bolilao, Mandurriao.
Officers from the Mandurriao police station served him the warrant at his room in the Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital on Monday. Some of them were currently guarding him.
Chief Inspector Juvy Navales, Mandurriao police head, said the 16-year-old Villegas was a “problem” of the barangay chairman of Bolilao.
Bolilao is also the location of the building where Villegas, a “barker,” met the accident while calling passengers for Leganes-Iloilo City public utility jeepneys last Black Saturday.
Villegas will be hauled to jail as soon as he fully recovers, Navales said.
Also a subject of the warrant issued by Judge Ma. Theresa Enrique-Gaspar was Jayvee Mediana. A P100,000 bail bond has been set for their temporay liberty, a photographed copy of the warrant obtained by Panay News showed.
WRONGLY ACCUSED?
In a phone interview, Villegas recalled to Panay News that the alleged robbery happened on Sept. 28 last year. He claimed that Mediana was the one really involved.
“I was walking with Mediana and the victim was looking at me funny. Mediana saw this, and he ran after and punched the person,” Villegas said in Hiligaynon. He could not recall the victim’s name.
(In a previous report, this paper erroneously stated the name of Sam Jan Cel Villegas as “Sam Jancel Villagas.” – Ed.)
“I stopped him (Mediana) from further attacking. The following day I was summoned to the Bolilao barangay hall and made to face the police,” Villegas added.
Police accused Villegas of taking the cellphone of the victim. He denied this.
“I then looked for Mediana and asked him if he took something from the victim. He admitted to stealing the cellphone and said he would sell it and use the proceeds to pay for his boardinghouse rent,” Villegas told Panay News.
Asked how he was feeling at the time of the interview, he said: “I’m just trying to lie down. I can still feel the throbbing pain.”
PAIN
Villegas confirmed that he was indeed calling for passengers at the time of the accident. He heard the sound of concrete crashing down from atop the building right next to the Injap Tower.
“I tried to run but I suddenly fell to the ground and felt numb all over,” he said. “Then I saw my foot, it was crushed. The pain was excruciating.”
At the hospital, Villegas said he thought the doctor will just remove his crushed right foot but he was told that his leg, which was also fractured, will have to be amputated.
AID
A manager from the company that owns the building visited him at the hospital and assured him that they will take care of his hospital bills, said Villegas.
“I told them I wanted to have an artificial leg, and the manager promised me they would shoulder whatever the cost of that procedure,” said the teenager.
Villegas was asking for financial assistance. He is currently out of school but wishes to continue his studies. He reached Grade 9 at Mandurriao National High School but stopped last year.
All the cash aid the company provided them so far was P10,000, Villegas’ older brother John Kirk told Panay News.
John Kirk threatened to file charges against the company if the latter fails to fulfill its promises.
He said they have nowhere to get the money for Villegas’ hospitalization and surgery charges. Their father is a jeepney driver and does not earn much. Their mother died in 2012, John Kirk said.
Villegas is the 12th of 15 siblings. His elder brother described him as kind and persevering.
“They ruined my brother’s future. I pity him now for having just one leg left. How can he land a job in that state?” said John Kirk./PN
