Supervisor killed defending Valenzuela chocolate factory

A factory supervisor died in the line of duty trying to foil a robbery attempt by five unidentified armed men in the chocolate factory that employed him Sunday night in Malabon, police reported yesterday.

Malabon police chief Superintendent Moises Guevarra identified the lone fatality as Joemarie Esperidion, 35, single, a stay-in employee of the New Utility Sweet Corp. at 137 M. H. del Pilar street, Barangay Tugatog.

Esperidion succumbed to several gunshot wounds in the body. Authorities said the suspects used an improvised shotgun in the attack.

PO2 Jorge de al Cruz, officer on case, said Esperidion and security guard Gilbert Arellano were patching up a portion of the factory’s concrete barricade at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday when a gunshot rang out from the other side of the wall.

The victim fell down badly wounded and was taken to the Pagamutang Bayan ng Malabon, where he died upon arrival.

De la Cruz said tension gripped the workers some four hours earlier after five men allegedly stormed through a big gap in the barricade which the victim and a company guard later tried to fix.

The guards and other employees at the scene allegedly threw stones at the intruders they suspected of being robbers.

To prevent another assault, Esperidion and Arellano tried to cover the hole with a plyboard until he was shot.

Witnesses told probers a similar robbery attempt occurred last month, but was foiled by alert guards and employees. — Jerry Botial