"Habal-habal" driver robbed, stabbed

CEBU, Philippines - A motorcycle-for-hire driver is in critical condition after he was robbed and stabbed by his two unidentified passengers in Sitio Laray, Barangay Lanao, Daanbantayan last Saturday evening.

Sherwin Coyoca, 24, of Barangay Malingin, is now under observation at the trauma center of Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center after he sustained seven stab wounds in the chest.

The unidentified robbers took his SYM motorcycle and left him hapless on the road.

Coyoca was waiting for passengers at a terminal in Barangay Poblacion when the two robbers arrived and asked to be transported to Barangay Lanao.

Upon reaching the place, one of the robbers choked Coyoca from behind while the other disembarked from the motorcycle and started stabbing him with an ice pick.

After the victim slumped on the road, the two unidentified robbers commandeered his motorcycle and sped off towards a nearby sugarcane plantation.

A bystander found Coyoca bloodied and took him to the Daanbantayan District Hospital. But because of his serious condition, Coyoca was referred to Vicente Sotto hospital.— THE FREEMAN