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Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Man shot, stripped of 14,000 US dollars
By Jovy S. Taghoy
CEBU CITY -- Whether the killing of suspected criminals has deterred robbery in Cebu City was put to the test Tuesday, when motorcycle-riding robbers attacked a collector and grabbed thousands of dollars from him in Barangay Banilad.
Santiago Olivar, 42, was sent to the hospital after one of the three robbers shot him in the back with a 9mm pistol.
Olivar, a resident of Englis-V. Rama St., works as a collector and errand boy of Wam Manufacturing and Development Inc. in Cabancalan, Mandaue City.
SPO3 Genilo Veraque said initial reports placed the loss at US$10,000 (some P561,000), but an employee from the accounting department of the manufacturing company told Sun.Star Tuesday the victim was carrying $14,000 (P785,000).
The robbers struck in the early afternoon, after a three-day lull in the killing of suspected criminals in Cebu City by unidentified gunmen.
Witnesses interviewed at the crime scene said Olivar, who was riding a red Honda XL 125 (GG 5549), stopped for a red light at the intersection near the former Food Land complex in Barangay Banilad.
A single gunshot rang out.
The bullet also shattered the windshield of a JMP Taxi (GVX 346) that stopped ahead of Olivar.
Gunpoint
A jeepney driver and his wife told Sun.Star that the next thing they saw was a bloodied Olivar still driving his motorcycle towards a Caltex gasoline station nearby.
He could no longer drive straight.
Another witness, who parked his vehicle near the gasoline station, said two of the three robbers followed Olivar to the gasoline station and kicked his motorcycle, bringing the victim down.
One of the robbers then grabbed Olivar's black bag, where the money was kept, while the other robber pointed a 9mm pistol at the fallen collector.
The witness said the armed robber even pointed the gun in his direction when he tried to approach Olivar.
The armed robber did not cover his face, but the two others wore helmets.
The witness, however, said that out of fear, he failed to get a good look at the robber with the gun.
After taking the bag, the robbers immediately fled on board a yellow Aura motorcycle and sped towards Mandaue City.
Pursuit
A team from the Mobile Patrol Group rushed Olivar to a hospital, while different units from the Cebu City Police Office launched a hot pursuit operation.
Superintendent Pablo Labra, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB), said that one of the witnesses identified Rey Torres as one of the robbers.
Labra said that JMP Taxi driver Joseph Seņoran identified Torres after he was shown, from police files, the pictures of suspected criminals.
Torres was earlier identified by Cebuano couturier Jed Sevilla as one of the three motorcycle-riding men who robbed him last month while stopping for a red light at the corner B. Rodriguez and V. Rama Ave.
Olden Huang, operations manager of Wam Manufacturing, which manufactures electronic devices, said Olivar has worked for a long time with the company and that he collects or deposits money in a bank each day.
Sun.Star called up Wam Manufacturing Tuesday and was told by one of the personnel (who spoke on condition of anonymity) at the accounting department that Olivar had just withdrawn dollar bills from MetroBank-Banilad Branch.
He was reportedly on his way to their employer's house in Banilad when the robbery took place.
(January 5, 2005 issue)
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