FOR close to five minutes, employees of a pawnshop in J Centre Mall in Mandaue City shook and could only look down as five men robbed their store, uncertain how the robbery would end.
It was a busy day at the shop since a subasta sale was ongoing, which meant they had more jewelry on display than usual.
There were also more customers than usual since the jewelry was sold at bargain prices.
Christinine Bontuyan, manager of the M. Lhuillier Jeweller branch in the mall, said it took the robbers around five minutes to pull off the heist.
At first, she thought somebody was pulling a prank when the man declared a robbery, but when she saw the firearms and they were ordered to look down, she and her staff heeded the robbers.
“We were entertaining customers. I thought it was a joke until I saw the gun. First, three men came in. Then two more followed,” she said in Cebuano.
“That’s when we noticed there was a commotion outside. It seemed like someone shouted. A little while later, we heard shots. After the shooting, they came in. ‘Way mulihok kay tulis ni! (Nobody move! This is a robbery!)’ We could not do anything because they were already taking the jewelry. We could no longer fend them off,” she said.
She said she was standing near the shop’s door, near its customers’ area, when the incident happened.
“I didn’t know what to do. So I just looked at them. And when they came near me, I looked down,” she continued in Cebuano.
Five shops in J Center Mall were robbed by 15 armed men Saturday night, Oct. 19, 2019.
According to Bontuyan, they were not suspecting anything bad since the robbers just blended with the customers. She said people just come and go in their store, especially since it was the second to the last day of their subasta sale.
There were around 32 staff on duty when the incident happened.
“They just looked like customers. No masks. They were wearing just caps. They were dressed nicely,” she said.
She said it was a good thing their customers were also alert during the incident.
“It’s a good thing our customers thought of just lying face-down. Nobody started shouting or reacted. All I heard was just crying from the customers and some of our staff because some of them were stepped upon,” said Bontuyan.
Irish Gela Buglosa, area manager of the pawnshop, said they had no idea yet when their branch could resume operations.
“When I arrived here, everyone started crying. They were all in shock. Our guard was there at the time, but maybe he could not do much because the robbers were armed. But we assured those transacting with us that this will be settled,” she said in Cebuano.
Meanwhile, Police Captain Marvin Fegarido, Mandaue Police Station 2 chief, called on the public, especially pawnshop operators, to alert the police of any suspicious pawning of jewelry and/or gadgets.
“That’s one of the things we’ll look at. But we lack personnel for that. So we need the public’s help to report any suspicious pawning of items, especially in bulk. They can call the nearest police station to have this verified,” he said. (WBS)