Family robbed by 12 armed men in Caloocan

A Filipino-Chinese family was robbed by 12 heavily armed-men while on board their pick-up truck on their way home in Caloocan City Monday night.

Victim Joel Daniel Liao, 36, of 347 J. Teodoro Street, Grace Park, Caloocan, together with his wife and daughter, told probers the suspects forcibly took and sped away with their four-wheel drive Nissan Frontier (WJM 797).

The police said the robbers, on board a blue Honda Accord and a red Toyota Corolla, both without license plates, cut into victims’ vehicle path and forced the driver to pull over by the road shoulder.

With the suspect’s M-16 assault rifles poked in their faces, the victims said they were ordered to stay still. Thinking they were law enforcers, the victims obeyed but were surprised when one of the armed men boarded their vehicle and took over the wheel. Three others also boarded the vehicle which quickly sped off.

Inside the vehicle, three of the suspects started divesting the victims of their jewelry, cellphones, automated teller machines (ATM) cards, credit cards and an undetermined amount in cash.

Upon reaching Pasay City near the Baclaran Light Railway Transit station, the robbers ordered them to get off and sped off with their vehicle.

Police are now conducting follow-up operations to determine the identity of the suspects.

Earlier last Monday, a Filipino-Chinese businesswoman was shot to death by a man believed to be a hired killer inside her lumber and hardware store, also in Caloocan City.

Police investigators said a store employee found the victim, Erlinda Sy, 51, married, owner of the Esquire Lumber at 270 A. Mabini Street, Maypajo, slumped bloodied and lifeless in her chair in the store’s office shortly after the shooting. Sy succumbed to at least three gunshot wounds in the head.

Witnesses told the police that the gunman, posing as a customer, was seen leaving the store at around 1 p.m.

Police said the killer was apparently a professional, executing the "hit" with precision while no other person was in the store. Witnesses said they heard no gunshots leading the police to suspect that the gunman used a silencer to do the job. –Jerry Botial