Robbers kill store owner in Laguna

CAMP PACIANO RIZAL—The owner of a convenience store in Cabuyao City, Laguna, was shot four times before his body was thrown into a shallow canal in an armed robbery on Wednesday evening, the police on Friday said.

Supt. Arnel Gongona, Cabuyao City police chief, in a text message said

that Joseph Pagcaliwagan, 39, was shot dead by at least three armed men

who broke into his Milka Convenience Stop in Barangay Mamatid at around 7:30 p.m.

According to Pagcaliwagan’s younger brother, Juanito, the robbers came just as the victim and three other employees were about to close the store for the night.

“My brother tried to fight back as the armed men were ransacking his store, so the robbers dragged him outside the store and shot him in the head and stomach,” Juanito said based on the employees’ accounts. The victim also suffered bullet wounds in his waist and foot.

Juanito said the robbers then threw his brother’s body into a two-meter deep canal across the store and escaped on the victim’s L300 van. The police recovered the van abandoned somewhere in the village two hours after the robbery.

He said the robbers took with them half a million worth of cash, grocery items, cell phones and his brother’s jewelry.  “His pockets were emptied.

They took everything except for his wedding ring,” Juanito said. Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon