Victim in Manila jewelry shop rob dies

As the search for two other members of the “Martilyo Gang” intensifies, another victim who was shot by the robbers at a Manila jewelry shop died while undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Tiburcio Silverio, 48, a brother of the owner of The Sisters Jewelries and General Merchandise, died late Saturday afternoon at the Metropolitan Hospital from a gunshot wound in the abdomen.

Police Officer 3 Alonzo Layugan, of the Manila Police District (MPD) homicide section, said Silverio was shot when he grabbed one of the suspects who destroyed with a hammer display cases containing jewelry  inside the shop along CM Recto Avenue in Sta. Cruz on Thursday last week.

Silverio apparently intended to prevent the suspect from escaping, but he was shot by one of their companions in the robbery.

The case investigator said Silverio’s son had identified 22-year-old Mark Kalama as the gunman. Kalama was one of five men arrested Friday by police teams at the group’s alleged hideout in Maharlika Village, Taguig City.

Kalama and the four other suspects arrested with him have been included in the charges of robbery with homicide and multiple counts of frustrated murder initially filed in the City Prosecutor’s Office against the group’s alleged mastermind, Basir Basilon.

Layugan said follow-up operations are underway for two other Martilyo Gang members, one bearing the alias Muks, who fled with an estimated P200,000 worth of assorted jewelry.

He added that there could be more than 10 suspects involved in the heist.

Policemen have so far accounted for eight of the suspects, two of whom were killed in a shootout with MPD agents.