Lax security is being blamed for the ransacking of municipal and city halls in Negros Occidental, that have occurred despite repeated reminders by the police for concerned local government units to be vigilant.

The municipality of Hinobaan in Negros Occidental was the fourth victim of ransacking by unidentified suspects, who divested the steel cabinets of the Disbursement Office, of about P460,000 in cash, initial police investigations showed.

Noting that similar incidents had also taken place in Cebu, Senior Supt. Milko Lirazan, provincial police director of Negros Occidental, said they are entertaining the possibility that one group could be involved in the heists, that had similar modus operandi.

First to be ransacked was the Cashiers Section of the Escalante City Hall, where the suspects took about P2 million in cash and checks in July. It was followed by the ransacking of Bago City Mayor’s Office, with suspects carrying almost P500,000 worth of digital video equipment and their accessories the next month.

Last month, three computer monitors and their accessories were also taken from the Cauayan municipal hall, police records show.

The suspects are even getting bolder as they used a bolt cutter in destroying padlock and steel cabinets of the Hinobaan disbursement office, to get the money early Saturday morning.

Hinobaan Mayor Ernesto Estrao said the suspects left a bolt cutter behind.

The police station is located within the municipal hall of Hinobaan.

The money taken by the suspects was intended for the feeding program of the 13 town barangays, and salaries of some municipal employees,Estrao said.

The ransacking incident was discovered Sunday by an employee of the Hinobaan municipal hall.

Lirazan said he has dispatched a team of SOCO (Scene Of the Crime Operatives) to investigate the incident.*GPB

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