Thursday, September 25, 2008 3 cabbies fall prey to 'lone robber' By Ernie N. Olson Jr.
THREE taxicab drivers were robbed, by what the police believe may be the same gunman, in various parts of Baguio within a matter of only an hour after midnight Sunday.
Unfortunately for the second victim, he ignored the gunman's order to turn over his money and continued to drive, forcing the gunman to shoot him twice on the head and shoulder.
The victims were identified on Wednesday by the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) as Eugenio Deligo Cacdac, 39, a driver from Naguilian, La Union; Pedrito Bandoc Rapisora Jr., 26, who hails from San Jacinto, Pangasinan and resides here at Middle Quirino Hill; and Noel Respicio, 29, who comes from Aurora, Isabela and lives here in Central Fairview.
According to Cacdac, he was driving a Toyota Tamaraw FX taxi with the trade name "Janning & Rana Marie" along the road above Woodsgate Subdivision in Camp 7 around 12:40 a.m. Monday when he was flagged down by a lone man posing as a passenger, who instructed him to ferry him to Sumulong Street.
However, when they reached the dead end of Sumulong Street, the suspect, who was seated at the back, pulled out what the driver described as a cal. 45 pistol and announced the heist.
Having no other choice, Cacdac gave the armed robber his wallet containing P1,090, cash amounting to P650 kept in his left pocket, and his Citizen wristwatch.
But when the victim pleaded for the robber not to get his driver's license before he fled, the latter obliged.
The victim said the robber escaped by fleeing on foot towards the direction of Honeymoon Road.
Twenty minutes later or around 1 a.m. Monday, Rapisora was driving a Toyota sedan taxi with trade name "Responde" along Rimando Road, when a man flagged down his vehicle, entered the back seat and told him to go to Easter School.
Upon reaching the place, however, the passenger told him to bring him further to Maria Pucay Street in Pinsao Proper.
When they reached the turning point of the street, the passenger seated at the back seat pulled out a handgun, poked it at his head and announced the heist.
However, instead of keeping quiet, the driver drove his taxi forward and said, "Even if we both get killed."
This was when the passenger shot at him twice, hitting him on the right cheek with the bullet exiting from his chin and his right shoulder, before he opened the door, jumped out and fled towards an unknown direction.
Although already seriously wounded, the driver managed to drive his taxi until he reached BCPO Station 5 at the corner of the Palispis-Aspiras (former Marcos) Highway and Legarda Road, where police personnel assisted him in getting to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center emergency room.
After the shooting victim was treated and declared out of danger, a scene-of-the-crime operations (Soco) team from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory was also dispatched to the hospital to process the vehicle for clues and latent fingerprints.
Over half an hour later or around 1:40 a.m. on Monday, the third cabdriver was cruising in another Toyota Tamaraw FX taxi with the trade name "Sham," when a man flagged down his vehicle along Lower Tacay Road in Pinsao Proper, got in and instructed him to go to Km 3 of Asin Road.
This third cabdriver, Respicio, described the man to be in his late 20s, about 5'6" in height, dark complexioned and who spoke with a Kalinga intonation.
When they reached their supposed destination, the robber poked a silver-plated handgun of unknown caliber on the driver's back and announced the heist.
The victim was divested of his day's earnings amounting to P2,800 before the armed robber fled on foot towards an undisclosed direction.
According to the police, all three armed robbery incidents were still undergoing a follow-up investigation by probers of BCPO Stations 3, 2 and 9, respectively, as of Wednesday.
