Sunday, March 30, 2008 Phone robbers end another teen's dreams By Mia E. Abellana Sun.Star Staff Reporter
FOLLOWING the death of graduating nursing student Ruby Jade Ruba, a college varsity player who had hopes of joining the professionals in the Philippine Basketball Association was shot in the head Friday night as he was about to go to practice.
Lucky Mantohan Pitogo, 19, was riding his bicycle in Barangay San Vicente, Liloan town when three men on a red motorcycle approached him and shot him.
Police are looking into the possibility that the three were robbers and were after Lucky’s Nokia N80 cellular phone.
But because the cell phone was under Pitogo’s body, they failed to get to it.
Pitogo and his friend Federico Cabasan were on their way to Barangay Yati to meet with his teammates in the barangay basketball league.
On the way, Lucky would reportedly slow down to reply to the text messages he got.
Cabasan recalled that he even told Lucky to hurry up but Pitogo told him to go ahead because he was still sending his replies.
As Cabasan reached the perimeter of the Arellano Memorial High School, he noticed three men on a red motorcycle. The two passengers reportedly disembarked.
As he drove on ahead, he heard a gunshot.
When he turned around, Lucky was already down on the ground, with a single gunshot wound on his head and his blood trailing down the road.
Two men quickly boarded the motorcycle and the third man drove off towards the inner road of San Vicente.
Residents alerted Lucky’s family until they got a vehicle to bring him to the hospital.
Laurice, his younger sister, said they tried hailing a taxicab but the driver did not stop. He was rushed to the Chong Hua Hospital.
Lucky’s sister Lanie said the doctors did all they could but he was declared dead.
It was not the first time that Lucky lost his cellular phone to thieves.
He once lost his bag in a university gym while motorcycle-riding men also snatched his cellular phone sometime in August last year.
This is why many believe that on Thursday, he fought it out with two of the robbers, thinking that because he was well-built, he could easily fend them off.
Asked if he had any enemies, the Pitogos said he did not.
However, his sister Laurice said there could be others who were envious of her brother’s talents.
SPO4 Florencio Apuado admitted that they still had to zero in on the identities of the three.
None of the witnesses could see clearly because the area was dark. No one also noticed if the red motorcycle had a license plate.
Police are looking into the possibility that the perpetrators were not from Liloan town.
Last week, someone also lost a cellular phone in the area.
The perpetrators also used a red motorcycle and there were three of them.
Lucky’s family hopes the police will be able to identify the perpetrators soon. His tearful sister Lanie said there was no need to kill her brother and they could have taken the phone.
“Ug kibaw pa lang sila unsa katarong nga tawo ilang gipatay...ug duna unta sila’y konsensya...(I wish they knew they killed a good man. I wish they had let their conscience stop them),” Lanie lamented.
