Toledo City woman trader gunned down by robbers

She was so nice that she forgave the employees who robbed her family’s hardware store.

But 59-year-old Maria Belen “Baby” Santillan didn’t back down when two unidentified robbers tried to steal her shoulder bag that contained checks worth P400,000 and an undetermined amount of cash from the store’s sales proceeds in Toledo City last Tuesday evening.

Still, Santillan proved no match for the robbers who shot her twice and sped off with her bag.

She was rushed to the Carmen Corp. Hospital where she was declared dead sometime later.

Supt. Julian Entoma, Toledo City police chief, said Santillan, wife of Baptist pastor Yehudi Santillan and mother of barangay councilor Steve Santillan, owned the family’s Santillan Enterprises hardware store.

The store is located 20 meters across their home in barangay Don Andres Soriano-Lutopan, Toledo City.

Entoma said Santillan was headed home when the robbers blocked her path and tried to grab her shoulder bag.

One of the suspects drew a gun and shot Santillan on the chest when she refused to hand over her shoulder bag.

She fell down while the suspects sped away on their black Honda Wave motorcycle with her bag towards barangay Cantabaco.

Police recovered two empty shells of a .45 pistol from the crime scene.

Santillan’s remains were later brought to the St. Peter Funeral Homes in Toledo City for autopsy.

Santillan’s husband holds church services in the Lutopan Faith Bible Baptist Church located beside their house.

PO3 Alfred Barquin of the Toledo City police said witnesses told them that the robbers didn’t cover their faces.

Barquin said the crime scene was dim and a blackout happened shortly after the incident.

“The Santillan family owns the building and lot.  The family business has been in existence since I was born,” he said.

Barquin said the perpetrators may have monitored Santillan, who usually brings  their cash proceeds at her house after closing her store.

He said Santillan’s hardware store opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m.

Barquin said witnesses described the motorcycle driver as big and the backseat gunman as small.

Entoma said Santillan’s store was robbed before but she didn’t file a complaint against the employees.

“Dali ra man gud na siya maluoy. Ila ra gipasaylo (Santillan is a merciful person. She just forgave her employees who robbed her),” Entoma said. He said the robbery may have been an inside job.

“We will conduct a background check on her seven store workers.” Entoma said in Cebuano.

In a phone interview, Santillan’s son Steve described her mother as the “nicest” mother.

“Dunay paglaum luyo sa kamatayon (There is hope beyond death),” Steve told Cebu Daily News.

Steve said that he found out that his mother was robbed when their driver informed him last Tuesday night.

Steve said he went home and saw his mother slumped on the ground.

Steve recalled that his mother was active in helping his father in church activities

Barquin said Steve told them that he knew only of the four checks worth P100,000 each and wasn’t sure how much cash was in her mother’s bag. With Correspondent Gabriel C. Bonjoc