Sen. JV Ejercito’s aide shot, robbed in dad’s city

MANILA, Philippines—A staff member of Sen. JV Ejercito was shot in the leg and robbed inside a taxi together with two colleagues in Manila Wednesday night, in an incident that added to the crime statistics of a city governed by the lawmaker’s father.

Kathleen Mary Ann Tan, 47, and her fellow Senate employees were in a Leonidas taxi (UWE 859) around 8 p.m. when an unidentified man suddenly opened the cab’s left rear door after it stopped on a red light at the intersection of Quirino Avenue and Benitez Street.

The assailant, who was in a yellow shirt and shorts and appeared to be in his late 20s, fired a pistol at Tan, hitting her in the left leg. He then grabbed her bag containing her mobile phone, IDs and P500 in cash.

He also snatched the mobile phone of one of her companions, 46-year-old Homer Magdaluyo, before fleeing on foot.

The Manila Police District (MPD) learned of the incident through a phone call from Philippine General Hospital, where Tan was brought by her colleagues and the taxi driver Randy Andes for treatment.

In a Twitter post, Ejercito, son of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, confirmed that the victim was one of his staff members and that she was out of danger, though requiring surgery.

The senator initially tweeted that the attack was carried out by “riding in tandem hold-uppers’’ or bike-riding robbers. He later clarified that it was by a lone gunman.

Mayor Estrada ordered a manhunt for the robber as the MPD on Thursday checked security cameras in the area for any video of the incident.