Robber preying on dentists identified

THE POLICE have identified the man who robbed several dental clinics in Metro Manila and in some cases, even raped some of his victims, a police official said yesterday.

Senior Supt. Ranier Idio, operations chief of the Quezon City Police District, said that they were able to identify the man through his dental records which were provided by some of his victims.

Dentists normally keep a record of the work done on their patients’ teeth.

According to Idio, a comparison of the dental records showed that the same man was behind several robberies in Quezon City and Manila.

He refused to give more details to avoid jeopardizing follow-up operations.

The robber, however, used aliases and fictitious addresses when he filled out the forms, Idio said.

Among the names he used were Jake, Alex, Alvin, Aldrin and Jason. The man also used the surnames Galang, Santos, Maliwat, Veltran and Musngi.

At the same time, he gave his address either as St. Olympus in Fairview; Novaliches in Quezon City; or San Lorenzo Village in Makati City.

Idio said that charges of robbery and acts of lasciviousness charges would be filed against the robber under his aliases.

An artist sketch of the man will also be included in the filing of the case.

“I hope the prosecutor will admit [these] as prima facie evidence so a warrant of arrest could be issued against [him],” Idio added.

Based on the testimonies of three dentists, their clinics in Quezon City which were located in Tandang Sora, Sangandaan and Project 3, were robbed separately by a man in May.

The first robbery took place on May 14, followed by another one on the 17th. The last case happened on May 31.

The victims said that after the man ransacked their clinics, he masturbated in front of them.

On May 26, a man robbed a dental clinic in Paco, Manila, and raped one of the two woman dentists on duty.

The series of robberies alarmed members of the Philippine Dental Association (PDA) who held a dialogue with the police.

The PDA also called on the government to step in and address the problem which it described as “alarming.”