MANILA, Philippines–Two women remained unconscious Friday at Ospital ng Maynila after jumping off a moving jeepney while the other passengers were being robbed by grenade-wielding men.
One of the three suspects was later arrested by the police following the incident in Malate, Manila, Thursday night.
Mary Adrian Ferido, 21, and Realita Perillo, a resident of Pasay City, lost consciousness due to the head and body injuries they sustained after a bad fall on the pavement from a Cubao-bound jeepney on San Andres Street around 6 p.m., according to the Manila Police District.
Supt. Mannan Muarip, commander of the MPD’s Malate station, said three men armed with a grenade, a .38-cal. revolver and a fan knife (balisong) boarded the jeepney as it approached M. H. del Pilar and declared a holdup.
The driver, Richard Roque, told the police that the robbers emptied the bags and pockets of his four passengers, taking about P30,000 worth of cash and gadgets.
Apparently fearing that the suspects would still hurt them, Ferido and Perillo suddenly jumped off the vehicle, Roque added.
In a follow-up operation, Malate policemen caught up with one of the suspects, Jonathan Montemayor, while he was walking a few blocks away from the intersection where the robbery took place. Recovered from him was an MK2 fragmentation grenade and a 12-inch balisong.
Muarip said Montemayor, under interrogation, named one of his cohorts as Vic Vargan, a native of Calbayog, Western Samar province, who remained at large together with the third suspect. Maricar B. Brizuela