BY RHENJIE MARIE CALANTAS & RUBY SILUBRICO
ILOILO City – More than P5 million worth of jewelry and cellular phones were stolen from a mall in Barangay Mamhut, Balasan, Iloilo.
Employees of Gaisano Mall discovered the burglary around 8 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 5, when they opened the establishment, according to Police Lieutenant Alexander Lauron, Balasan police station chief.
Three shops in the mall were targeted.
An estimated P5 million worth of jewelry were stolen from a jewelry shop; nine cellphones were taken from a cell phone store worth P67,000; and about P292,000 worth of cell phones from another cell phone store, police said.
“Ginkuha nila ang vault kun diin natago ang alahas tapos ginkuha man pila ka cellular phones nga na-display sa kiosk,” Lauron said.
Balasan police investigation further revealed that the suspects destroyed the cyclone wires at the back of the mall and the padlock on the metal door to gain entry.
“Ginbungkal nila ang sementado nga dingding gamit seguro ang maso kag nagsulod sila sa department store,” the police chief added.
The Balasan police are now trying to determine if there were any closed-circuit television cameras in the area that may have recorded the suspects.
The police will also invite the three security guards on duty when the burglary was committed.
“We believed nga nag-operate ang mga suspects on Sunday night. We have to talk to the security guards nga naka-duty kun ngaa wala sila nakabatyag,” Lauron said.
On the other hand, Police Brigadier General Leo Francisco, director of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6), directed the Regional Intelligence Division chief, Police Colonel Reynante Panay, to help conduct an investigation to identify the suspects behind the robbery.
“May ipapadala na mga pulis para magtulong-tulong sila sa pag-solve ng kaso na ito,” Francisco said./PN
