Robbers take BIR exec’s safes

MANILA, Philippines—An official of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) lost two portable safes containing cash and jewelry to two robbers who hogtied members of her family before ransacking her home Tuesday in Quezon City.

BIR West Pasig Revenue District Officer Emilia Combes was out of the house when the robbers broke in and tied up her two sons, her grandson and their housemaid in Filinvest II Subdivision, Barangay Batasan Hills, police said.

In a report, Chief Insp. Rodelio Marcelo, head of the Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said the loot included cash, jewelry, electronic gadgets and appliances. Their total value was not immediately known, but they included valuables kept in the two safes also taken by the robbers.

Marcelo said the robbery happened shortly before noon Tuesday while Combes’ sons Anthony and Exxon were having a chat in the backyard.

An armed man managed to enter the yard and at gunpoint forced the brothers into the house, where a second robber was already waiting.

The robbers then tied up the brothers, their nephew and their househelp in the dining room.

They fled with their loot in a black pickup truck, Marcelo said.

It was only after the robbers had left that the Combes brothers were able to free themselves and seek help from neighbors, who sought police assistance.

Investigators found in the house several tools, including a crowbar and a chisel, which were apparently used in the robbery.