Robbers flee with P17.4M worth of cash, valuables in 2 Quezon City heists

MANILA, Philippines—Robbers ransacked two houses and took more than P17.4 million worth of cash, jewelry and high-end electronic gadgets in separate midday home invasions Friday and Saturday in Quezon City.

Friday’s heist was pulled off by a lone intruder while the second involved six men, four of them armed, who hogtied a restaurant owner and members of her household before robbing their home of some P15.9 million worth of valuables.

According to reports from the Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU), the first robbery happened around 12:30 p.m. at a house along Ipo Street in Barangay (village) Salvacion, La Loma area, owned by 58-year-old Marissa Gatmaitan.

Senior Police Officer 1 Gregorio Maramag said that house helper Myla Fadera was left alone at the house when a man scaled the walls and barged into the door through the garage.

Once inside, the man, who had a crowbar, herded Fadera into a comfort room on the ground floor and locked her up, threatening to kill her if she tried to escape.

Maramag said Fadera was eventually able to escape while the robber was busy ransacking the second floor, and sought help at a neighbor’s house. By the time help arrived, the robber had fled along with Gatmaitan’s safety box containing P1.5 million worth of jewelry.

Tt around 10 a.m. on Saturday six men raided the home of restaurant owner Marilou Knight along 3rd Street, Barangay Mariana in New Manila.

PO2 Julius Balbuena, case investigator, said that the men subdued 29-year-old family driver Donhill Aquino to gain entry into the house. Once inside, Balbuena said that four of the armed robbers started rounding up the other members of the household, including Knight and her two sons as well as two female employees.

Balbuena told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the victims’ hands were tied with wire and they were gagged with packaging tape. They were herded inside one of the rooms while the robbers ransacked the rooms, taking jewelry, including a pair of diamond-studded earrings worth US$250,000 (P10.425 million) and P2.3 million worth of Rolex watches as well as other assorted items worth P3.2 million.

The robbers also stole P50,000 worth of mobile phones and P10,500 cash and fled aboard a red van.