Holdup at high noon

She was intending to transfer the hard-earned money of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Japan to another bank, but lost it instead to a lone holdup man at noon yesterday in Caloocan City.

The heist came on the heels of a meeting called yesterday for the chiefs of the five Metro police districts by National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Vidal Querol, who expressed concern over the upsurge of crime incidents perpetrated in broad daylight in the metropolis in recent days.

The police identified the victim as Mary Ann Morales, 32, married, of Bisig ng Kabataan street, Caloocan City.

Records showed Morales went to a bank on Samson Road to withdraw cash amounting to P230,000 belonging to her sister Yolanda Sato, married to a Japanese national and now living in Japan, shortly before noon yesterday.

Morales told investigators Sato wanted the money transferred to the account of Yolanda’s daughter, Corazon Cruz, at another bank nearby.

The victim said she had just come out of the bank when a man casually put his left arm around her shoulders.

"Huwag ka nang tumingin sa akin. Diretso lang at ibigay mo sa akin yang hawak mo," the man told the stunned victim at knifepoint.

Left with no choice, Morales said she gave up the brown envelope containing the cash to the suspect, who casually let go of her and quickly took rode a passing jeepney.

Morales failed to describe the suspect, who remains at large.