Burglars steal equipment from Congress TV tent in Senate complex

Burglars stole a television, printers, office supplies, and other equipment from a Congress TV tent inside the Senate complex early Wednesday, Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Alfred Corpus said.

Corpus said Congress TV personnel reported the incident to Senate security at around 7 a.m.

“Kaninang umaga, nai-report sa amin ng Congress TV. Meron silang tent sa baba, nai-report nila sa atin ’yung incident na ninakawan ’yung kanilang tent,” Corpus told reporters.

(This morning, Congress TV reported to us that their tent downstairs had been burglarized.)

Following the report, Corpus said Senate security personnel inspected the area and sought the assistance of the Southern Police District (SPD) in the investigation.

According to Corpus, the suspects allegedly gained access to the Senate compound by destroying a fence separating the Senate and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

“Yung fence ng GSIS, sinira nila… Doon pumasok ’yung mga magnanakaw,” he said.

(They destroyed a portion of the GSIS fence. That was where the burglars entered.)

Among the stolen items were a flat-screen television, printers, office supplies, and folding tables, Corpus said.

Authorities have obtained CCTV footage, but Corpus said the suspects’ movements were not clearly captured because the Congress TV tent blocked the camera’s view.

“Merong CCTV, pero mukhang hindi makikita kung saan pumasok ’yung mga nagnakaw… Na-obstruct kasi ng tent,” he said.

(There is CCTV footage, but it appears it will not show where the suspects entered because the tent obstructed the view.)

Corpus said the Pasay City police already have persons of interest, but declined to identify them as the investigation continues.

“May mga persons of interest already. Hayaan natin ang Pasay City Police to determine the suspects,” he said.

(There are already persons of interest. Let the Pasay City Police determine who the suspects are.)

The Senate is also reviewing its security measures following the incident.

“It looks like we need to double-check security, see if we can add more CCTV cameras in the compound. It seems that area was a blind spot,” Corpus said.

He added that the burglary likely occurred during the height of the heavy rains in the early hours of Wednesday, despite the presence of Senate security personnel, police augmentation, and Marines.

“We have blue guards, we have police augmentation, meron din tayong Marines. It seems that the incident was carried out during the height of the heavy rain madaling araw,” he said.

(We have blue guards, police augmentation, and Marines. It appears the incident happened during the height of the heavy rain in the early morning.)

Corpus said authorities are still reviewing CCTV footage to determine the exact time the burglary occurred but believes it happened before dawn.

Meanwhile, Corpus said the forensic examination of the powder recovered from the improvised explosive device (IED) incidents near the Senate is still ongoing.

“By Monday pa malalaman ng forensic group ’yung result ng powder na nakita. Monday pa tayo magkaka-update,” he added.

(The forensic group will know the results of the powder analysis by Monday. We will have an update by then.) —RF, GMA News