3 ‘basag kotse’ cases occur in city within 24 hours
Leaving your valuables inside your car is no longer safe. Yesterday in just a span of 24 hours three separate “basag kotse” cases happened in Iloilo City.
The first case happened the other night at the parking area of Carlos restaurant and bakery along the Diversion Road in Mandurriao District just outside the residence of Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas.
Carlos restaurant and bakery is being managed by the mayor’s children.
Subject of the burglary was the Suzuki van of Atty. Joviel Edama who was having a meeting with journalist Florence Hibionada and friends inside the restaurant when the incident happened.
As they were about to leave around 10:30 p.m. Edama and company were shocked upon seeing the vehicle’s window by the passenger’s seat ransacked.
They then found out that the two laptops they left behind inside the car were already missing, along with a purse containing P5,000, a bag containing documents and a cologne.
The bag containing documents were later discovered by the barangay tanods abandoned at the back of the Iloilo Supermart in Tabuc Suba, Jaro.
Around 10 a.m. yesterday news again broke out that another car, an Isuzu Crosswind, parked outside the Social Security System (SSS) office in Rizal-Burgos Streets, City Proper was also ransacked by unidentified persons.
Initial report said that the suspects carted away P125,000 worth of giftchecks and cash from the vehicle owned by Wilfredo Lim.
Around 3 p.m. a third “basag kotse” case happened involving a Nissan Navarra pick-up parked outside the Savemore Supermarket in Brgy. Quintin Salas, Jaro.
Police report said that the car’s owner Margarito Parcon went inside Savemore Supermarket to buy some goods while it was raining heavily. When Parcon returned to the car he discovered that it was already open and his beltbag containing P620,000 cash and a .45 caliber pistol were already missing.
As of press time yesterday police from the City Proper and Jaro police stations have yet to pinpoint the suspects in the three separate “basag kotse” cases.
To recall, Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) director Senior Supt. Melvin Mongcal ordered the speedy identification and arrest of perpetrators in the series of “basag kotse” and “bukas kotse” gangs operating in the city.
A suspected member of “basag/bukas kotse” gang was arrested in Brgy. Bakhaw, Mandurriao recently but still “basag/bukas kotse” crimes keep on happening.
Mongcal then appealed to car owners to protect their property by placing their valuables such as laptops, Ipod and jewelries in safe places other than leaving them inside their cars.
He also encouraged car owners to lock their cars and install warning devices to protect them from thieves.