Resort owner’s daughter robbed

MANILA, Philippines - Armed men robbed the daughter of a resort owner and her companion of more than P200,000 in cash and valuables on Sunday.

The robbers had posed as clients of the resort in Guinobaan, Albay in order to lure Jen Peñaflor, 37, the owner’s daughter, and Arem Miciano, 34, a property consultant.

Police Officer 2 Michael Tan said that on Nov. 21, a man who introduced himself as Daniel Reformina called up Peñaflor and introduced himself as a potential client. He set up a meeting with her at a coffee shop at a mall on North EDSA at past 10 a.m. on Sunday.

The man then asked Peñaflor to meet his boss somewhere along Kalayaan Avenue to seal the deal.

Police said Peñaflor and Reformina boarded Miciano’s Hyundai Tucson and went to a fastfood store along Katipunan Avenue, after which Reformina got off the sport utility vehicle (SUV).

The two victims began to be suspicious of the man, who returned to the vehicle after a few minutes and told them to drive to the corner of Alvero and Esteban Abada streets. When they arrived at the corner, Reformina suddenly pointed a gun at them from the back seat as three other men got into the SUV.

The two victims were made to transfer to the back seat and lie facedown, while one of the robbers drove the SUV and forced Peñaflor to withdraw P45,000 from three ATM accounts.

The armed men eventually abandoned the victims and the SUV along Esteban Abada street, ordering them not to move for 30 minutes.