2 women file charges vs cabbies

MANILA, Philippines - Two women have filed charges against two taxi drivers arrested for robbing and molesting their victims, Quezon City Police District director Chief Superintendent Mario dela Vega said yesterday.

While the two women were not molested, one said the suspects and their accomplices pulled her hair while the other said they sprayed tear gas into her eyes.

Dela Vega said the new complainants identified Salvador Fulloso, 40, and Pablito Manatag, 38, as among the ones who robbed them. The victims went to Camp Karingal, where the two men were being held, following reports that they were arrested last weekend after a woman complained Fulloso robbed and molested her when she boarded his taxi. Fulloso led police to Manatag.

Leah Laput, 60, told Superintendent Reynaldo Ramirez that on Sept. 15 last year, the two men and a companion robbed her when she boarded a taxi along Annapolis street in San Juan. She said they let her out along Connecticut street and sprayed tear gas into her eyes.

Another victim, Danah Mendoza, 27, reported that the two men and a still unidentified companion robbed her when she boarded a taxi, also on Annapolis street, on Sept. 20. Though she asked to be brought home to Sikatuna Village in Quezon City, Mendoza said the cabbie brought her to Dama de Noche street in Barangay Mariana, where two men boarded the vehicle and “pulled my hair” as they pushed her head into the seat.

The suspects reportedly took the clothes and shoes she had just bought, as well as her shoulder bag. She said the suspects left her along Sampaguita street.