Rob victim’s pa asks cops: Protect night shift workers

The relatives of 27-year-old Gerald Changco, a call center agent who was killed and robbed on C5 Road in Pasig City while on his way to work, may have lost all hope for justice.

But they have one request to the police: “Protect those who work on the graveyard shift.”

“It may be next to impossible to bring these robbers to jail because we have no witnesses who saw them at close range,” the victim’s father, Orlando Changco, told the Inquirer.

Gerald was supposed to report for work on the 4 a.m. shift at Sitel Philippines on Julia Vargas Street on Monday when two men on board a motorcycle held him up.

The robbers shot him from behind and took his mobile phone, an undetermined amount of cash and documents. He was dead by the time he was taken to the hospital.

The victim’s grandmother, Elpidia Changco, 67, said the attack would not have been so brazen if policemen regularly patrol C-5 Road, a busy area by day but deserted—and dangerous—at night.

The police recorded a separate incident along C5 Road in Barangay Bagong-Ilog at 9:20 p.m. on Monday when a security guard was fatally shot four times by a motorcycle-riding assailant. The police went to the crime scene around 10 p.m., 40 minutes later, according to a report at the Eastern Police District.

“I hope C5 Road will have more police outposts and policemen visible from day to night. This can still happen to my other grandchildren and to anybody,” Elpidia said.

Orlando said that even if the number of robbery-holdup incidents has risen on this particular road, robbers rarely kill their victims.

For the last three years, Orlando said he would go jogging and accompany his son from their house to the jeepney loading bay on C5 to make sure he was always safe.

He regretted having skipped jogging on that tragic day.

“I had often reminded my son that whenever he was faced with such a circumstance, he should just give up whatever he had because he could still get these back, but his life was irreplaceable,” Orlando said.

He called on the police to protect call center workers who are especially vulnerable to street crimes since most of them commute during the wee hours.