Cabbie shot dead in heist

MANILA, Philippines - A taxi driver was robbed and killed by a man he ferried to Sampaloc, Manila at dawn yesterday.

Gerwin Maribojoc was found slumped in the driver’s seat of his taxi with a bullet wound in the right side of his head.

Flower shop decorator Jose Villegas, 60, told  Senior Police Officer 3 Glenzor Vallejo that he went out of his house at past 3 a.m. to buy coffee when he saw a man get out of a Ryo taxi and run toward Fajardo street.

He described the man as between 5’4” and 5’5” tall and wearing a white shirt and denim pants. He said when he returned from buying coffee he noticed that the taxi had not left. He approached the vehicle and found the driver so he went closer to check and saw the driver slumped on the steering wheel.

Villegas immediately informed barangay chairwoman Beth Benigno, who called the Manila Police District’s homicide section.

Vallejo said the victim’s belongings were found intact in the cab and they are trying to find out if there was an altercation prior to the shooting.