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Thursday, January 29, 2004
Money changer robbed; loot - P950T
By Allan I. Varquez
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A MONEY changer’s shop lost about P950,000 to four armed robbers, who swiftly escaped despite heavy traffic late yesterday afternoon.
Two motorcycles, a Honda 100 cc and a L2GF Yamaha, stopped on the roadside while traffic was slow past 5 p.m. at the corner of P. del Rosario and Junquera Sts., Cebu City.
Two men, each armed with a .45 pistol, went inside the firm while their two companions served as lookouts.
“One entered the cubicle and poked a .45 pistol at us. The other one stayed in the adjacent kitchen. I was too afraid to make any noise,” cashier Joy Flores told PO1 Hugo Ipong of the T. Padilla Police Station.
The robbery took less than five minutes. The culprits drove towards New Imus Road.
The firm, which belongs to Helen Banzon, began doing business in 1995.
A barangay patrol cab with two Regional Mobile Group (RMG) policemen on board arrived less than 10 minutes after the robbery, but to their disappointment, they were not given details by Flores and her co-cashier Nimfa Soco.
They allegedly closed the rolling door of the office and reopened it only 15 minutes later.
Two witnesses reported seeing two motorcycles, each with two men aboard. The Honda bike stopped eight meters from the firm, while the Yamaha parked in front.
The two men on the Yamaha went inside the firm, while the one sitting behind the driver of the Honda stood at the gate.
“Kalma ra kaayo silang nanulod. Nakahibalo na lang mi nga tulis diay to kay si Joy nigukod man sa tulisan ug nisinggit nga gitulis kuno sila (They were very calm. We only realized what happened when Joy ran after them and yelled that they’d been robbed),” a witness identified only as Chito said.
He also said two Citom traffic enforcers in the area had hand-held radios, but did not try to call for help from police headquarters when he asked them to.
At first, one of the two robbers asked Flores and Soco if he could change his $3, but as Soco examined the dollar bills, the two culprits pulled out handguns and announced a holdup.
Flores said the robber inside their cubicle put the money in a small black bag and casually walked outside.
“I ran after them and yelled for help, but there was no longer any guard at the bank next door or in this building,” Flores said.
(January 29, 2004 issue)
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