Bank worker shot dead in front of girlfriend
GOING back to get his vehicle to retrieve his packed lunch and to say goodbye to his girlfriend proved to be fatal for a 36-year-old bank employee after he was shot by one of two motorcycle-riding men on Tuesday. Manila Police District (MPD) homicide section investigators immediately ruled out robbery as the motive for the killing of Edwin Lao, an accounting clerk of the China Bank Sto. Cristo branch on Camba Street in Binondo, Manila. Lao passed away after several hours at Metropolitan Hospital due to a gunshot wound in the head. Case investigator SPO4 Paul Dennis Javier said that just before the bank opened at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Lao arrived at the bank in his black Toyota Fortuner with his girlfriend, Charmaine Benitez. He clocked in and then stepped out to see his girlfriend off. “He said goodbye to his girlfriend who was taking the vehicle with her to work, got his lunch from the SUV and closed the passenger side door. As soon as he did, gunfire rang out,” the case investigator told the Inquirer. Jeannette I. Andrade
‘Salvage’ victims found in Rizal province
THE BODIES of a man and a woman who were both shot dead were found by the side of a road at the boundary of Quezon City and Rodriguez town in Rizal province on Tuesday morning. A security guard of a water company made the grisly find at around 4 a.m. near a dark portion of Zigzag Road in Barangay San Jose, Rodriguez, police chief Supt. Don Bait said. “No one saw the dumping,” Bait told the Inquirer in a phone interview. Authorities have yet to identify the two but they said the couple were probably “salvage” or summary execution victims. The woman was described as between 4’11” and 5’ 1” in height and in her early 20s. She was in a yellow T-shirt and denim jeans. The man was in his early 30s and described as between 5’ 5” and 5’ 7” in height. He was dressed in a brown T-shirt and brown cargo pants while his hands had been cuffed from behind. Bait was quick to say that the handcuffs on the victim did not belong to a policeman. “It looked like it was bought from Divisoria,” he said. The bodies were brought to a funeral home for autopsy. Niña Calleja
Robber keeps cool in front of cops, escapes
ALTHOUGH he had been cornered, a thief still managed to get away from policemen after he broke into the office of a gasoline station in Muntinlupa City in the wee hours of Monday. Police reports showed that the robber made a hole in the roof of the Shell gasoline station office on Km. 21, West Service Road in Barangay Cupang at around 2:30 a.m. Once inside, he then rummaged through the drawers and took all the money he could find in the room, including the gasoline station’s earnings. Members of the Muntinlupa Community Precinct Action Center 2 immediately went to the establishment after a gasoline boy, Raymond Plaga, heard the alarm inside the office go off and called the police. Four police officers, including precinct head SPO4 Ricardo Gomez, were able to corner the robber as he was ransacking a safety deposit box. However, the thief was unruffled when the police introduced themselves formally. He pointed a gun at the lawmen who then opened fire on him. In the end, their efforts were in vain as the robber got away, bringing with him a still undetermined amount of money. The Muntinlupa police said they were conducting follow-up operations. Nathaniel R. Melican
Tomas Teodoro; 90
TOMAS S. Teodoro, husband of the late Geronima Caudal, died of pneumonia on March 2 at the age of 90. He is survived by his children Glenita, Luningning, Marlon, Evelyn, Manuel, Gener, Zaldy, Roland and Michelle, and sons-in-law and daughters-in-law. His body lies at Loyola Memorial Chapel on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. After a 2 p.m. Mass today (Wednesday), Teodoro will be buried at 3 p.m. at North Cemetery in Manila.