2 men arrested for robbing nun

MANILA, Philippines - Two men who reportedly robbed and shot a nun in Sta. Ana, Manila last Tuesday have been caught, police said yesterday.

The first to fall was Alvin Dolor, 35, the alleged gunman who shot Sister Theresa Thomas Folanchery, an Indian national of the Charity of Saint Anne in Sta. Ana, according to Chief Inspector Edgar Carpio, who heads the crimes against property section of the Manila Police District.

Dolor led police to Vergel Malabana, 24, a Sputnik gang member, who reportedly drove the getaway motorcycle. Both suspects are residents of Sta. Ana.

Carpio said Dolor shot Folanchery when she tried to fight off his attempt to grab her bag containing P95,000, which she had withdrawn to pay the salaries of her staff. She was already in front of the gate of the nuns’ convent when the robbery occurred. After taking the nun’s bag, Dolor rode behind Malabana on a motorcycle, police said.

Folanchery was rushed to the Makati Medical Center, where she is presently recuperating from a gunshot wound in the left shoulder. Last night at her hospital bed, she identified Dolor as the one who shot her, according to Carpio. A houseboy who witnessed the robbery and the shooting also identified Dolor.

Police recovered from the suspects part of the loot, amounting to P13,000 and a snub-nosed .38 caliber pistol with five bullets.

According to Carpio, Dolor is also being linked to two heists perpetrated at a pizza-making firm in Sta. Ana on March 23 and the robbery-holdup of a trader in Pritil Market in Tondo on April 5. “The artist’s sketches of the suspects in the two robberies closely resemble Dolor,” Carpio told The STAR while showing the sketches.

Yesterday, Severino Camaso, 30, also identified Dolor as the same person who stabbed him after grabbing his cellular phone on March 12 in Sta. Ana.