Top student slain by robbers over phone, PlayStation

He was to receive a medal, a plaque and a cash prize from the city government Friday.

Instead, Rowell Cruz, 15, is receiving anguished tributes as the boy who had the brains to pursue big dreams, only to be snuffed out by a random crime.

The boy, an honor student graduating from Signal Village National High School in Taguig City, was killed in cold blood by robbers who had set their eyes on his two prized possessions—his cell phone and his Playstation Portable (PSP) video game console.

Police said Cruz was shot dead outside his home in Barangay (village) North Signal around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

He was playing with his PSP outside the house when two armed men approached him and declared a holdup, ordering him to hand over his gadget and his cell phone.

When Cruz refused, one of the men snatched it off the boy’s hands.

At this point, Cruz was shot in the left side of his chest.

The two assailants fled the scene on a blue Honda motorcycle (TL4159). Cruz’s relatives and some barangay watchmen tried to give chase, but eventually gave up.

The boy was rushed to Taguig Pateros District Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Devan Daiz, a barangay councilman and a friend of the victim’s family, said Cruz was one of the top students in his entire high school batch.

“He would have been honored [Friday] in the school’s recognition program. He would have been the First Honorable Mention in their class,” he said.

Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano vowed to bring justice to Cruz’s family.

“I have ordered Taguig Police chief Senior Superintendent Tomas Apolinaro to strengthen the manhunt operations for the suspects in the killing,” she said in a statement.

She said the city government will shoulder the burial expenses of the family and promised to offer jobs to the boy’s loved ones who would qualify.

Cruz, the youngest in a brood of four, was scheduled to graduate next week.