Sunday, February 04, 2007
'Vigilantes' rob airline of P120T
By Jovy S. Taghoy
CEBU CITY -- Two men, carrying pistols, entered an airline ticketing office in Cebu City Saturday afternoon and announced they were "vigilantes."
They then robbed the office and made off with more than P120,000.
The robbery on the Asian Spirit ticketing office at The Forum building along Archbishop Reyes Ave. occurred around 1:30 p.m., but the police hotline 166 of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) received the call for assistance at 2:12 p.m.
Among those who rushed to scene, apart from the Mobile Patrol Group, Special Weapons and Tactic and the Theft and Robbery Section, was Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
One of the employees told Sun.Star Cebu that he and his female co-worker failed to immediately call the police out of fear and confusion.
The robbers also threatened to come back if they report the incident to the police.
The robbers were armed with silver caliber pistols equipped with silencers and did not wear masks. The one who took the cash inside the portable vault, was wearing a pair of white motorcycle gloves.
The male employee, who asked the media not to identify him, told TRS' Senior Inspector Alexis Relado and Inspector Michael Anthony Bastes that he was at the front desk waiting for clients when a man, wearing a black T-shirt and denim pants, entered the office and asked about the schedule of their Cebu-Manila trip.
The employee said he earlier spotted the man, who arrived on a blue "Ninja-type" motorcycle, standing outside the office and appeared to be busy tinkering with his cellular phone.
He told the man that they have no direct flight to Manila.
After a moment, the man again asked if they have flights for Cebu-Davao and how much was the fare.
While he was busy writing down the rates, another man, who was also wearing a black T-shirt and sporting sunglasses, entered the office and approached him.
He noticed the second man put something silver on the front desk but did not mind it at first until he saw that it was a gun.
"Ayaw'g palag, bay (Don't put up a challenge)," the second man said. He then asked where the money was kept.
Out of fear, the employee said he told the robbers that the money was kept in a vault inside the adjacent room.
The robbers brought the male employee to the room, where the female employee was staying in a booth receiving calls for reservations.
The terrified female employee was also told to just stay where she was and not to shout.
The robbers then told the male employee to open the vault.
The employee initially hesitated and denied knowing the security numbers but was later forced to do so when he was told thrice that they were "vigilantes."
After taking the cash inside, the robber who was wearing a pair of white gloves also took the office's petty cash worth P900, the employee said.
They also ransacked some of the drawers hoping to find more cash.
The robbers failed to take the estimated P80,000 cash at the front desk.
Before leaving the office, the robbers also detached all the seven telephone wires from the receivers so that the two employees could not call the police for assistance.
The male employee said he only went out of the room when a foreigner arrived at the front desk and wanted to buy tickets. He said he told the foreigner-client that he cannot accommodate transactions because the office had just been robbed.
The female employee, at this instance, had called up their employer who in turn called up the police for assistance.
The employees were showed Saturday pictures of known robbers but failed to identify any of them.
Bastes said they have noticed similarities in the mode of executions in the previous robberies of two moneylenders in Cebu City last year.
Last October 5, 2006, two armed men robbed two moneylending firms, A-1 Micro Finance Inc. and Asialink Finance Corp., in a span of 20 minutes.
Like Saturday's robbery, the perpetrators also claimed they were vigilantes and detached the telephone wires from the receivers.
One of the alleged suspects in last year's robberies, Dindo Ancero, has been arrested and is now jailed at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center. Ancero, who was identified by the lending firms' employees, has denied any involvement in the two robberies.
Meanwhile, Relado got a piece of advice from acting CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador on issuing statements to the media particularly on cases that are still being investigated.
Comendador, in an interview with reporters, said he called the attention of Relado after the latter said in a media interview about the alleged involvement of slain security guard Edgar Embolode Sr. in the P1-million robbery of Dranix Distributors Inc. last Monday.
Embolode's family had cried foul over Relado's statements.
Comendador said, while he did not disagree with the possible involvement of Embolode in the robbery, Relado should not have issued such statements to the media, may it be a personal observation or based on initial investigation, without any valid evidence especially that the man is dead and could no longer defend himself.
"I have cautioned him from issuing statements. Wala ko mo disagree sa iyang theory but it should have been supported with evidence. Without it, whether personal view or based on initial information, it should not have been made public," Comendador said. (Sun.Star Cebu)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (February 4, 2007 issue)
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