Man convicted for trying to rob foreigners of their phones

CEBU, Philippines - For trying to rob three foreign nationals of their mobile phones, a man was sentenced to prison.

Regional Trial Court Branch 18 Judge Gilbert Moises found sufficient evidence to hold accused Ronel Avila, a resident of Laray, Talisay City, Cebu guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the crime of attempted robbery after he tried to rob three foreign students of the South Western University (SWU) in 2011.

“After a thorough and painstaking review and assessment of the evidence the court finds the evidence of the prosecution more credible than that of the accused,” Moises’ seven-page decision read.

Moises sentenced the accused to suffer the penalty of imprisonment for four months to four years and two months and to pay a fine of P5,000 to victims Keenanthakan Sassadideck, a Thai citizen and Aida Janfada, a Canadian national.

On Feb. 4, 2011 at about 7:25 p.m., while walking along Urgello Street towards Jones Avenue, the victims Sassadideck, Aida and her cousin Rana Janfada were robbed by the accused while they were waiting for a taxi.

Aida, 27, taking up dentistry at SWU said that on the said date, while walking along Urgello Street, the accused attacked Sassadideck from behind by putting his left arm around her neck. He then punched her face.

She said she tried to help her friend by grabbing the shirt of the accused but the latter turned to her and swung his knife, hitting her left arm twice.

There, she said a security guard of a pension house came to their rescue and arrested the accused. She noticed that her iPhone worth P30,000 was lost but was eventually recovered under the possession of the accused.

After the incident, they were brought to hospital for medical attention because of their lacerations.

Rana, 23, a Canadian citizen taking up dentistry at the SWU, corroborated Aida’s testimony.

She positively identified the accused as the one who attempted to steal their mobile phones. However, she was able to recover her Samsung galaxy phone worth P15,000.

Sassadideck, 25, testified that they were robbed by the accused. However, she was able to recover her BlackBerry phone worth P37,000.

The accused denied the allegations and said that on the said date, he was asked by his mother to look for his younger sister, Rasel. He allegedly found her at the Harrison Park in Urgello Street.

However, he said that while they were walking, a policeman approached them, arrested him and brought to a police station. Avila said he was surprised of the arrest.

His sister, Rasel, testified that before she was fetched by her brother, she had no idea where the latter came from and what was he doing.

With the foregoing evidences, Moises ruled in favor of the prosecution.

“The accused was positively identified by the three victims as the one who attached them and who tried to get their cell phones. They could not have been mistaken in identifying the accused because of their close encounter,” the decision reads. — (FREEMAN)