PHILIPPINES COMPUTER CPUs STOLEN FROM GOVERNMENT OFFICEComputer parts stolen inside Isulan town hall recoveredComputer parts stolen inside Isulan town hall recovered
Bong Sarmiento / MindaNews / 12 April 2004

KORONADAL CITY -- For some, the Holy Week is no occasion to be holy.

This after authorities in Sultan Kudarat province recovered Sunday night several computer components stolen during the Holy Week break from inside the municipal hall of Isulan town, which is just a stone’s throw away from the local police command. The items were found in nearby Tacurong City of the same province.

Two of the seven stolen computer central processing units (CPUs) contain data stored by the local Commission on Elections (Comelec), said Supt. Fred Bartolome, Isulan police chief.

Three other CPUs were taken from the municipal treasurer’s office while one each were taken from the municipal planning development office and the municipal administrator’s office, he added.

Along with the seven CPUs, robbers also took five keyboards and three computer mice on Holy Thursday between 1:30 and 3 a.m., police records said.

But all these items, according to Bartolome, were found abandoned Sunday night in good condition in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, in front of the Methodist Church there.

“Finger prints were already lifted from the recovered items and we are comparing them against several employees of the four agencies,” said Bartolome, suggesting that the robbery could be an inside job.

The police official bared that the employees of the four offices went on overtime last Wednesday apparently without permission from the mayor’s office.

Bartolome said the thieves entered the municipal building through the local Comelec office. He claimed that the poll office’s door locks were poorly secured.

The police official said that he earlier reminded officials of the local poll body to improve the office’s locking system as the election is already fast approaching.

Saying there were no security guards detailed at the municipal hall, Bartolome said he recommended that the local government should now deploy armed watchmen inside the facility to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

He said the thieves took advantage of the heavy rain that fell at that time on Isulan town, some 40 kilometers northwest from here.