BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Police Station 6 commander, Police Capt. Dax Santillan, pointed out several oddities in a reported house burglary in Barangay Taculing on Jan. 21.
Former Isabela, Negros Occidental municipal treasurer Neneth Escarda reported to the police that her house was burglarized. Bank checks valued at P3.8 million and cash reaching P2.6 million were carted away.
According to Santillan, the closed-circuit television footage near Escarda’s house showed no one entering the house between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Jan. 21.
Also, he said, the eight dogs in the house were not observed barking during the period, which would have indicated that strangers were inside the house.
Police investigators noted, too, that the area where the money and bank checks were supposedly stored showed no signs of having been ransacked.
Due to these oddities, Santillan said, they could not make conclusions yet.
Police probers were also wondering why Escarda was keeping large sums of money in her home.
Negros Occidental’s Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, meanwhile, commented that the provincial government will investigate the incident.
“I have already received the report; what happened to the money must be explained,” Lacson said.
On Wednesday, Feb. 1, Isabela mayor Irene Montilla spoke to Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz and had a new municipal treasurer from the provincial government replace Escarda while an investigation is ongoing.
The investigation is now being conducted by the Provincial Legal Office while the Commission on Audit (COA) is handling the auditing process./PN