UNIDENTIFIED men robbed a housewife and a bank messenger in separate incidents on the Transcentral Highway in Balamban, Cebu carting away more than P400,000 in cash and cell phones.
Supt. Janette Rafter, town police chief, said her team is working on both cases, which she said were isolated.
At 10 a.m. of March 7, Indafe Buenafe Latayada, 27, lost her two cell phones to a man who begged water from her in Barangay Cansomoroy. The road in this part is rolling and there are long stretches between vehicles passing. Also, the houses are situated far apart.
Latayada told police that her husband was at work during the robbery.
She opened the door after a knock. A man she did not know asked for a glass of water.
As Latayada was getting him water, the stranger aimed a knife at her.
He shouted at Latayada to give her her two cell phones worth P7,400. Afraid of getting hurt, she gave in. The thief escaped on a motorcycle.
In Barangay Prenza, two motorcycle-riding robbers stole P400,000 cash from bank messenger Allan Amaya Blase at 3:20 p.m. last Tuesday.
Blase, who works in a bank in Asturias, was wounded in the left upper arm after one of the culprits shot him.
Before the robbery happened, the messenger had a bank transaction in Cebu City.
He was driving a motorcycle and stopped on his on his way to Asturias to answer a call of nature.
He did not know that the robbers were following him.
The culprits arrived and grabbed the bag containing the money. Blase resisted, but he surrendered the bag after seeing the firearms.
He was shot when the culprits fled toward Cebu City. (KAL)