3 slain in Malate robbery

A Filipino-Chinese owner of a cellular phone store in Malate, Manila and two others were brutally killed by suspected robbers yesterday morning.

The bloody bodies of Bobby Sy, 36, Marie dela Cruz, 33; and Ronnie Figueroa, 36, were found piled one-on-top of the other inside the cramped outlet of the Up to Date cellular phone store at about 9:25 a.m. by Cherry Castro, a sales clerk of the cell phone shop.

Sy was the owner of the store at the corner of Vasquez and Pedro Gil streets in front of the University of the Philippines Manila Campus. Dela Cruz, printer operator and Figueroa, cashier, were employees of Tetra Copy and Business Center, which shares the same office space with Up To Date.

Responding elements from the Western Police District Homicide Section and the WPD Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO) retrieved the bodies from the store’s comfort room. Homicide prober SPO4 Norberto Obrero said all three victims’ hands were handcuffed behind their backs, their faces wrapped in packing tape and were all shot in the head.

An inspection by homicide probers showed that Sy was shot in both temples while Dela Cruz and Figueroa were each shot in the forehead. Police rushed Figueroa to the nearby Philippine General Hospital after he was found slumped on the toilet bowl still breathing. He however was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.

Police said the victims might have resisted the suspects before they were shot as showed by signs of struggle inside the toilet. Also found missing from the store were P100,000 worth of cellular phone call cards and SIM packs. Bystanders also told police that they heard shouting and noises inside the store at the time of the robbery.

"There was shouting and noise inside the shop but as the store was surrounded by glass panels, they were muffled. The gunshots were also muffled as the victims were inside the toilet," Obrero said.

According to Obrero, there were no signs of forcible entry leading them to theorize that the suspects could be known to the victims and could have freely entered the store before it opened.

"The suspects could already have been inside the store waiting for Sy to arrive," Obrero said. He added that Dela Cruz and Figueroa usually arrive first to open the store’s main door.

Probers said Figueroa even went outside of the store at about 7 a.m. to buy cigarettes from a nearby store. Sy was driven to the store by his wife at about 9 a.m.

Police said the robbery and the killings could have taken place between 9 a.m. when Sy arrived at the store and 9:25 a.m. when their handcuffed bodies were discovered by Castro.

Members of the SOCO team recovered a 9 mm spent shell and a 9 mm slug at the crime scene suggesting that this gun caliber was used by the suspects.

"This crime could not have been done by a single suspect. It had to be a group who could be known to the victims that is why their faces were wrapped in tape," Obrero said.

Castro, meanwhile, told reporters that Sy, her employer, had no enemies. She added that their store was also robbed last year with the robbers entering through the ceiling.

As these developed, homicide probers are looking into the possibility that a Binondo-based gun-for-hire group is behind the recent killings and slay attempts on Chinese businessmen in Manila.