Metrobriefs

Shouts for help scare off robbers

The cries for help and shrieks of people working in a micro-lending establishment scared off four armed men who were about to rob the establishment in Antipolo City.

The four were about to enter Card Inc. in Cogeo, Barangay Bagong Nayon Thursday when the 12 people inside the establishment started screaming when they spotted the guns the men were carrying. Ma. Rosario Camacho-Biagtan, the barangay chair, said the armed men panicked and fled on board two motorcycles.

“[Yesterday] was the day the people were supposed to get their loans. The men probably found out about that,” Biagtan explained.

Although responding barangay officials and police were unable to catch up with the four men, witnesses were able to provide them with descriptions that police said would help in their follow-up investigation.  Two of the armed men were described as six feet tall while the other two were of medium build.  The four were wearing masks to cover their faces, witnesses said.

Supt. Rodino Elfa, Antipolo City police chief, said that they would conduct an operation against the robbers. He told the Inquirer that the police were gathering the necessary information from witnesses. Kristine Felisse Mangunay

Fake Viagra seized

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday seized 1,000 boxes of fake Viagra worth P3 million from suspected members of a syndicate involved in the distribution of the drug.

NBI Intellectual Property Rights Division (IPRD) men arrested three men  but declined to identify them to avoid jeopardizing follow-up operations against other members of the group.

According to the police, the fake drugs were being sold in Central Luzon and the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) area.

NBI-IPRD chief and lawyer Rommel Vallejo said that the entrapment operation was based on a complaint made by Pfizer, the authorized manufacturer and distributor of Viagra.  Each box, the complaint stated, was sold at P95 instead of the regular price of P3,000. Pfizer representatives further pointed out that taking the fake Viagra was dangerous as the chemical content was different from the real one.

Upon verification of the complaint, NBI-IPRD agents arrested  three suspected members of the syndicate involved in the distribution of the fake Viagra in Angeles City. Jeannette I. Andrade