Robbers shoot bizman, flee with P160,000

CEBU, Philippines – Four unidentified motorcycle-riding men shot a businessman before fleeing away with P160,000 worth of cash and jewelry in Sitio Dapdap, Barangay Poblacion III, Carcar, Cebu Sunday evening.

Roel Florita sustained gunshot wound to his face after one of the robbers fired shots at the service truck he was driving.

Based on the investigation conducted by the Carcar police, at about 7:30 p.m., Florita, with his wife, Mercy, who was sitting on the passenger side, and eight stay-in helpers at the back of the truck were on their way home on board the Isuzu Elf pick-up type service truck (GSJ 316) driven by the victim.

They just came from a public market where the victim is operating an eatery. Police said the victim also owns a sari-sari store.

While the victim and his companions were near his house, a car owned by their neighbor that was parked on the road was blocking their way. Because of the narrow road, Florita was allegedly forced to stop his vehicle.

Out of nowhere, police said four unidentified men wearing a cap and jacket appeared on board two motorcycles, two riding each motorcycle. One of the suspects then fired at the truck twice. One of the bullets hit Florita to his face.

The suspects then approached the victim's vehicle and declared the hold-up then one of them went to the passenger side. Due to fear, Mercy immediately handed over her black sling bag containing cash amounting to P100,000 believed to be their sales for that day, two cellular phones, a gold necklace worth P60,000 and a black wallet.

After taking the cash and valuables of the victims, the suspects immediately fled away while Florita was rushed to South General Hospital in Naga City for medical treatment.

PO1 Gilmer Noval told The FREEMAN they're looking into possibility of an inside job as the robbers seemed to know the time the victim will pass and their actions appeared to be well-planned.

Police failed to get the description or the type of the motorcycles used by the robbers. They recovered from the crime scene one empty shell of 9mm pistol.

Noval said they do not discount the possibility that the suspects were the same persons who tried to rob Virgilio Balloria, a distributor of a softdrink company in Minglanilla on Wednesday.

Balloria said he was blocked by four unidentified men on board two motorcycles who fired two shots at the wheel and windshield of his Toyota car. He also sustained gunshot wound to his left shoulder. (FREEMAN)