Kin denies man tied up nephew for 2 days

Family says allegation that Mcarthur was chained is baseless

THE family of a man who was earlier accused of tying and handcuffing his nephew clarified that his action was not meant to cause pain but to teach the nephew a lesson.

“We tied him not to make him suffer but instead to let him tell us where he sold the ice bucket and let him feel what he was doing to us,” the family of Matias Tabasa said in a press statement to Sun. Star Cebu.

Matias’ family also clarified that the nephew, McArthur Tabasa, 34, was tied outside their house for only two hours and not two days as earlier reported.

McArthur was released in the presence of the police last Wednesday afternoon after a concerned resident reported the incident to authorities.

In an earlier report, Matias accused his nephew of stealing his ice bucket and plastic drawer worth P5,000.

Some neighbors told reporters that McArthur was also chained in the neck, but the family dismissed such allegation as baseless.

McArthur’s live-in partner, Arnelia Caramonte, alleged that McArthur was chained by Matias without any reason.

Caramonte also denied Matias’ allegation that her live-in partner stole the latter’s belongings.

According to the press statement of the family of Matias, they did not know Arnelia’s name until recently.

“We all know that robbers do not tell the truth. In this case, we are giving more chances to the nuisance person to the community more importantly than us,” the press statement said.

The press statement said the family of Ma- tias had not slept for four days after McArthur started going inside their compound in Barangay Sambag I, Cebu City using the back fence, allegedly to steal.

The family of Matias said that several times, they reported McArthur’s alleged stealing inside the compound to the Fuente Police Station, but no charges were filed for lack of evidence.

“We are saddened by the news report making us look bad to the public and our reputation has been damaged,” the press statement added.