By Jennifer P. Rendon
The Roxas City Police Station recorded another robbery incident early morning of Jan 5, 2023.
But this time around, the suspect was caught red-handed.
Kent Villanueva, 22, was arrested after he attempted to burglarize the house of his neighbor at Purok 2, Barangay Libas, Roxas City, Capiz.
Police accounts indicated that Villanueva entered the house of businessman Reynaldo Bucala at around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday by destroying the back door lock.
The suspect first pocketed a mobile phone and then attempted to sneak into Bucala’s bedroom.
But the noise roused the 43-year-old victim, who immediately tackled Villanueva.
It didn’t take long for Bucala to overpower the suspect and took the latter’s caliber .38 revolver, which was loaded with six bullets.
When he was later frisked, Villanueva yielded two mobile phones, two sachets of suspected shabu, a lighter, a pair of scissors, two keys, a bundle of plastic bags, and P6,579 cash.
Lieutenant Colonel Aron Palomo, Roxas City police chief, said Villanueva is the subject of a long list of theft and burglary complaints at the Roxas City PNP.
“He had been involved in theft since he was a minor,” Palomo said.
Police had tried to help the suspect by giving him a job at the fish port. Even Bucala also helped him in the past.
But Palomo surmised that Villanueva got worse after reportedly getting hooked on illegal drugs.
The suspect is now detained and will be charged with robbery and violation of Republic Act 10591 (Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act).
Meanwhile, Paloma said that this is Roxas City’s first case of robbery for January.
A December 2022 report indicated that Capiz recorded 11 of the 25 robbery incidents (44 percent) that happened all over Western Visayas.
It’s notable, though, that most of the robbery and theft cases happened in its capital, Roxas City with 6 of the 11 robbery cases and 3 of the 4 theft incidents.
