Thieves break into empty house, steal P120,000

Around P120,000 worth of jewelry and electronic gadgets were stolen from a house in Barangay (village) Pamplona 3, Las Piñas City, on Saturday evening while its occupants were away on a two-day vacation.

Ramon Mariño and Ma. Consorcia Tamayo called the police after they came back Sunday morning and found out that someone had broken into their house.

Tamayo said someone had taken her jewelry while Mariño was missing his DVD player and some computer equipment. Both told the police that they left for Antipolo City on Friday to attend a birthday party.

Police Officer 3 Norman Castro told the Philippine Daily Inquirer they were verifying reports that a man identified only as Billy Joel and two others were behind the robbery.

According to Castro, a witness said that at 10 p.m. on Saturday, he saw Billy Joel and two boys estimated to be below 18 years old standing in front of the gate of the victims’ house and peering inside.

The witness added that he did not become suspicious because he thought that Billy Joel, who was Mariño’s former househelp, was just looking for him.