Food, variety stores, loan collector robbed of P342K in cash in 2 hrs

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Armed robbers struck separately, in a span of nearly two hours, before noon Tuesday taking some P342,000 cash from three Quezon City business establishments, including a sari-sari store.

From 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, the robbers pulled heists in the Fairview and Novaliches districts of the city.

First to be victimized was sari-sari store owner Armand Navarro, 60, of Regalado Avenue in Barangay West Fairview, who lost P12,000 of his establishment’s earnings.

According to a report from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Fairview station, Navarro was tending to his home-based store at around 10 a.m. when a man approached his store. Thinking the man was a customer, Navarro immediately attended to him but was told at gunpoint that it was a hold-up.

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Navarro was forced to fork over his cash earnings, which were inside a box, to the robber who then ran away.

On the other hand, a report from the QCPD Novaliches station said that John Tyrone Garcia, of Barangay Sauyo in Novaliches, allegedly robbed a loan officer of the micro-financing company ASA Philippines Foundation Inc of P30,000 collection money and a mobile phone.

Loan officer Mark Matela was collecting money from the company’s clients along Area 5 Sitio Cabuyao in Barangay Sauyo, Novaliches, when his motorcycle was blocked by an armed Garcia. The suspect divested Matela of his valuables and fled.

QCPD investigators later discovered that Garcia is the husband of an ASA Philippines client. Follow-up operations are underway for his arrest.

At around 11:30 a.m., a branch of the Food Basket Trading Corp at the Star Market along Quirino Highway, Barangay Sta. Monica in Novaliches, was robbed of some P300,000 cash by three armed men who wore motorcycle helmets.

According to the QCPD Novaliches station report, employees of the fruit and vegetable store were busy attending to their customers when the robbers arrived and announced the heist. The employees were forced to fork over the shop’s earnings and the three robbers fled on a single motorcycle with the stolen money.

(With a report from and Andrea Ocampo, trainee)

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