2 nabbed for robbing 7 teens

MANILA, Philippines - Police arrested a 13-year-old boy and his alleged cohort for reportedly robbing at least seven teenagers in Malabon City Saturday night.

The boy and another suspect, Felmar Majait, 19, a resident of Barangay North Bay Boulevard South, admitted the crime but pointed to a certain “Bunso,” also a minor, as the one who led them in the robbery.

Two of the victims, identified only as Kerbin, 15, and Mark, 14, lost a wristwatch and a silver necklace, respectively from the suspects.

“I took Mark’s wristwatch because I liked it, but it was Bunso who pointed a knife at him,” the boy, who stopped going to school in the second grade, told The STAR.

Majait also admitted taking Kerbin’s necklace but said Bunso took the stolen items.

Police Officer 2 Ariosto Rana of the Northern Police District special operations group said that at around 8 p.m., Kerbin and Mark sought their assistance, claiming at least five armed boys robbed them along Phase II, Area 3 in Barangay Longos.

Chief Inspector Jay Agcaoili, NPD-SOG chief, dispatched a five-man team led by Senior Police Officer 1 Jonathan Taguba to the area.

The operation resulted in the arrest of the two suspects, while Bunso, with two others identified only as Yoyong and Marmar, also minors, eluded the police.

“The boy would be turned over to the custody of the social welfare department but we are looking into the culpability of his parents,” Rana said, noting there is a special law penalizing parents for the crime committed by their minor children.   – Pete Laude