Over P100T cash, valuables lost
Close to P110,000 in cash and valuables were lost to unidentified men in separate burglary and robbery incidents in the towns of Sta. Fe in Bantayan Island and Balamban.
An unidentified man carted away around P82,000 worth of cash and valuables from the house of an Australian national in Barangay Pooc, Santa Fe, Bantayan Island Friday evening.
Police investigation showed that the burglar was able to enter the house of Geoff Castro, 56, through a sliding window which was left opened before the incident.
Castro reportedly told the po- lice that he and his wife were already sleeping at around 11 p.m. Friday and when he woke up at 12:20 AM the following day, he found that his valuables were already missing.
He reportedly found his bag and his shorts, where he put his personal items, at the back of his house.
The unidentified suspect took Castro’s Samsung Galaxy S5 cell phone worth P30,000, watch worth P12,000 and P40,000 cash which was placed inside his shorts.
Elements of Santa Fe Police Station are still conducting a followup operation to determine the identity of the suspect.
Meanwhile, three armed men riding a motorcycle robbed a cellphone accessories store in Balamban Public Market, Barangay Sta. Cruz, Balamban town and carted away P27,000 sales proceeds of the store past 8 p.m. Saturday night.
SPO1 Jose Ranielito Villarino, investigator, said that the three robbers casually walked to the store and two of them were not even wearing helmets.
Villarino said that Melchora Oño, cashier of ASEL Store and Cellphone Accessories was surprised when she saw men with guns.
One armed robber pointed a gun at Oño and went straight to the cashier’s table to look for money.
“Kalit lang naay nisulod nagsul-ob og yellow helmet, nisulod gyud sa likod sa display ibot sa armas. Mikisi-kisi unta ang cashier pero gitapionan ang baba giingnan ay’g saba,” Villarino said.
He checked the drawer and took P27,000.
The other armed robber pointed a gun at two other sales ladies, Rosabel Bada and Ofella Dejores.
While the two robbers were busy inside the store another armed person, believed to be the getaway driver, went inside and told them to hurry up.
A few minutes later, the robbers went out of the store and took off on board a motorcycle.
Villarino said that the robbers apparently observed the store before robbing it since they knew when the detailed police officer would not be around.
He also said that the robbers were most likely not from Balamban since they did not bother to wear masks.
He said that they will ask a cartographer to sketch the robbers’ faces since the store does not have closed circuit television cameras and a security guard.