Another dentist was held up at a dental clinic in Fairview, Quezon City, Friday afternoon by a gunman who followed the same modus operandi in a string of robberies of clinics in various areas of Metro Manila.
One of the victims, who declined to be identified, disclosed that the suspect entered the clinic at around 2:30 in the afternoon and upon being given an information form to fill up, drew out a gun and announced a holdup.
The gunman was described as over 30 years old and wore a white shirt and blue denim pants. He used a cap to cover his face from a closed-circuit television camera.
“We were not suspicious because he did not look like a robber. He was neat,” the victim said.
The victim added that the suspect brought a roll of masking tape to tie up the dentist and two others in the clinic, and scissors to cut the tape.
The victim said the suspect took all the jewelry of the victims, P17,000 in cash, two laptops and a video camera.
“He took only the stuff that could fit in his backpack,” the victim said. “He did not take the camera bag apparently because it was too bulky.”
“We cannot say if he had someone outside who acted as a lookout, but he entered the clinic alone,” the victim said.
The robbery took place a month to the day an armed robber who posed as a patient held up a dental clinic in the same city, then tied up the dentist and patients and molested them, according to police records.
At least five dental clinic robberies that police said could have been perpetrated by the same suspect were reported in the same month.