Students start school year as rob victims

Two groups of students started the school year on a painful note after robbers allegedly ransacked their apartments and took cash and valuables worth about P300,000 in separate break-ins in the cities of Malabon and Valenzuela earlier this week.

In Malabon, Iranian students Mohammad Emamdad and Keivan Abedi, both 23 years old and fifth-year dental medicine students at Manila Central University, said they discovered the burglary Monday morning at the house they were renting on R. Magsaysay Street, Araneta Compound, Barangay Potrero.

The police said the two Iranians, who left the house around 10 p.m. Sunday night, reported the loss of P120,000 in cash, a laptop worth P10,000, several credit and cash cards, and Abedi’s passport.

In Valenzuela, three Filipino-Americans and a Taiwanese national taking up medical studies at Our Lady of Fatima University lost about P260,000 worth of valuables and cash over the weekend.

Janus Jain Merchant, Lamberto Rivera Yaya Jr., Angela Lynn Dumapit and Russel Shieh said the items went missing at their rented apartments on McArthur Highway in Barangay Marulas early Saturday morning.

Three of the victims left their flats the previous night and found their rooms in disarray when they returned around 4 a.m. the next day. An investigation showed that the rooms bore no signs of forced entry and that the area had security guards.

Merchant lost two laptops, four hard drives, a tablet, two cameras, a watch, and cash with a total value of around P160,000.

Dumapit lost a laptop, two hard drives, a cell phone, a wallet, a Lacoste bag, two MP3 players, a mobile broadband stick, two credit cards and a debit card, all worth about P72,000. Also stolen were Yaya’s laptop and wireless mouse worth about P28,000.

Shieh was reportedly out of the country when his unit was robbed.