The Makati police have recorded 23 robberies in the city since the start of the year, with the last two happening on the same road just minutes apart earlier this week.
In her statement to the police, Ma. Regina Peñaflorida, owner of Himawari spa on Chino Roces Avenue in Barangay San Antonio, said four armed men pretending to be customers declared a holdup at 11:55 p.m. on Monday.
They took about P20,000 in cash and her employees’ cell phones before fleeing toward Buendia on two motorbikes.
Around 30 minutes earlier, a 30-year-old lawyer, and his 26-year-old friend were held at gunpoint also by four men on two motorbikes while they were walking at the corner of Chino Roces and Yakal Street, about 500 meters from the spa.
Pistol-whipped
Apart from taking their iPhone 6s and other personal belongings, one of the robbers also pistol-whipped the other victim when he refused to hand over his valuables.
Of the 23 robberies recorded by the Makati police since January, 20 remained without any suspect being identified, the Inquirer learned.
Senior Insp. Ronald Saquilayan, chief of the Makati police investigation section, acknowledged that robberies in the city “are increasing in numbers but not necessarily higher” compared to last year’s figures. He did not elaborate.
Records also showed that armed robbers had broken into six business establishments since January, including a restaurant in Barangay Poblacion.
‘Still shaking in fear’
A video of the Jan. 28 restaurant incident was posted on Facebook by a customer of Mando’s Wing Shack on Antipolo Street, showing three men in motorcycle helmets casually walking in and pointing their guns at the diners before taking their gadgets.
“I am still shaking in fear. I was traumatized. I hope those three animals (land in) jail,” the customer said in her social media post.
Saquilayan said four customers had filed a robbery complaint in the city prosecutor’s office after the Makati police came up with the suspects’ identities: Yuki Rivera, Michael Domingo and Jayson Rondial, all Pasay City residents in their 20s.