2 college students lose P150K worth of gadgets

Two college students lost more than P150,000 worth of electronic gadgets and cash at a convenience store and inside a Light Rail Transit (LRT) train in Manila in separate incidents on Friday.

Alan Soligam, 19, a student of De La Salle University, of Malate, fell prey to thieves before midnight Friday while he was inside a 24-hour store along Taft Avenue near his school.

Reports from the Manila Police District (MPD) theft and robbery section revealed that Soligam was having a snack at around 11 p.m. with his friends inside the store when he momentarily put down his black backpack on the floor.

When they were about to leave, he noticed his backpack gone along with his Mac book pro worth P70,000; a camera worth P60,000; and an iPod worth P10,000.  The student immediately reported the theft to the police.

On the other hand, Daryl Stephen Diego Santiago, 23, a student at the Asia Pacific College, of Sampaloc, lodged a complaint with the MPD General Assignment Section (GAS) claiming that at least seven robbers victimized him while he was aboard an LRT train on Friday.

In his complaint, Santiago alleged that at around 4 p.m. he boarded an  LRT line 1 train along Taft Avenue from the Vito Cruz station to the Quirino station in Malate.  When he alighted from the train, he discovered his iPhone and wallet, containing P8,700 cash, missing.

He told police investigators that at least seven men could have taken the items from him, crowding him inside the train, but operatives of the MPD-GAS are still verifying his claim.

MPD personnel are conducting follow-up operations to identify and arrest the suspects as well as the possible recovery of the stolen items in the two incidents.