MORE NEWS, NUEVA VIZCAYA

P40,000 fund for Nueva Vizcaya athletes stolen
By Joan Capuna

SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya – Exactly P47,500 intended for the training of student athletes in the province were stolen from two public school teachers here by three female thieves on Nov. 11.

Police said Brigida Esquida, 60, district supervisor of the Villaverde school district, and her companion, Elnora Legaspi, had just come from a branch of the Philippine National Bank along Benigno Aquino street here where they encashed a check worth P47,500.

The amount, from the provincial government’s Special Education Fund, was intended for the athletes joining the forthcoming annual provincial sports meet spearheaded by the Department of Education.

Since it was noon, the two teachers decided to have their lunch at an eatery along the national highway, just a stone’s throw away from the town’s police headquarters.

Upon reaching the restaurant, Esquida was suddenly accosted by three women whom she did not recognize.

It was only later that she discovered that her bag had been slashed and the money stolen.

“The three women may have espied on (Esquida) and knew that she was carrying a big amount of cash,” said Chief Insp. Corazon Valencia, this town’s police chief.

Recently, motorcycle-riding robbers took P1 million from a trader from neighboring Ifugao province after he had withdrawn the money from a Banco de Oro branch here.