The robbers even herded the hapless customers into a bathroom and locked them up before ransacking the establishment.
Police said at least two men declared a heist at the Cordillera Coffee Shop, located at the Llanar Building on Xavierville Avenue, Barangay (village) Loyola Heights at around 6 p.m. Saturday.
One of the men was armed with a caliber .45 pistol while the other pretended to be a customer.
The robbers managed to take away P226,900 in cash and gadgets belonging to the customers.
Case investigator Police Officer 2 Richard Galvez said one of the men entered the shop, owned by an Eli Paulo Fresnoza, 33, an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines.
The man initially pretended to be a customer and even ordered a cup of hot chocolate before finding a seat inside the establishment.
Ten minutes later, his partner barged into the shop and brandished his pistol at customers Denice Melanie, 30; Erwin Paul David, 25; and Leo Natividad, 41.
His cohort, the “customer,” proceeded to seize their valuables – five cellphones worth P45,400, two MacBook Pros valued at P150,000, a Neo laptop worth P15,000, a CKK tablet valued P5,000, a Polaroid digicam worth P5,000, a set of house keys and P6,400 cash.
After divesting their victims of their belongings, the robbers then herded the customers into the bathroom and locked them up inside before running off.
A roving security guard reported the robbery to the police after noticing that something was amiss inside the empty coffee shop.
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