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Thursday, December 30, 2004
'Balikbayan' home from Japan, robbed of P1.5M
By Fred P. Macaraeg
LABRADOR -- A Filipino who had just arrived from Japan was robbed of P1.5 million Tuesday night when he was about to enter the gate of their house in Barangay Tubuan.
Sual Police Office Chief Realito Rodriguez said Sual police operatives are assisting the Labrador police in tracing the suspects.
He, however, did not name the robbery victim.
Rodriguez said when the expatriate and companions, who were aboard a Vista van, reached Tubuan and were about to enter the gate, five armed men suddenly appeared.
The robbers, armed with armalite rifle, caliber 9mm and .45 pistols, asked where the money was and after being shown that the bag was at the front seat, ordered van occupants to alight from the vehicle.
Rodriguez said the thieves commandeered the van and abandoned it at Poblacion East in Sual town.
"Our men, who had been patrolling the area, saw the vehicle in the middle of the street," he said.
It was abandoned near the residence of former mayor Louie Agbayani.
The mobile patrol car returned to the police station and that was when they learned that there is a flash alarm about the vehicle.
"My PCOs (police commissioned officers) remembered the plate number of the vehicle left at the street leading to the mountain. My men returned to the area and cordoned the vehicle until the arrival of the force from the special operations group and the Labrador police," Rodriguez said.
The expatriate purportedly came from Manila shortly before the incident happened.
"When the balikbayan arrived, he and his companions immediately had their money changed to the Philippine currency," he said.
The group had P2.5 million exchanged but they purportedly split the amount and put them in two separate bags, one was carried by the expatriate and the other was given to his companion.
Rodriguez said the Labrador police led by Inspector Ferdinand "Bingo" de Asis are eyeing the possibility that the robbery was an inside job.
"There is a great possibility it is an inside job because the robbers knew their time of arrival and knew that they have money with them," he said.
(December 30, 2004 issue)
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