11 family members hogtied in Paco home robbery

The Manila Police District is hunting down six men who hogtied 11 members of a Filipino-Chinese family and ransacked their home in Paco early Tuesday.

Five days before the robbery, men in motorcycles were reportedly seen lingering near the Chua residence on Peñafrancia Street, as though observing the routine of its occupants, an investigator said.

Marvin Chua, 32, told investigators that his father, Randolph, opened the gate of their house to bring the younger Chua’s children to school around 7 a.m. when a group of armed men approached and forced them back into the house.

Once inside, the robbers started tying up the arms and legs of Chua, his father, his sister, his aunt, his three children and four other family members.

The intruders then took their jewelry, gadgets and credit cards worth at least P700,000, and were gone after 10 minutes.

According to SPO1 Jay Donato of the MPD theft and robbery section, a witness from the neighborhood recalled that five days before the incident men in motorcycles were observing the Chua residence.

Their descriptions matched those of the men who staged Tuesday’s robbery, Donato said.