UST student robs cabbie

MANILA, Philippines - A teenage student of the University of Sto. Tomas was arrested in Quezon City on Monday night after allegedly robbing a taxi driver.

Emman Paul Bonita, 19, told police he lost P3,000 after playing an online gambling game before the robbery, said Superintendent Ramon Pranada, commander of the Quezon City Police District Station 7.

Bonita, a third year nursing student, rents a unit in Sampaloc, Manila, where he lost the money in an online gambling outlet, Pranada said.

At past 10 p.m. Monday, Bonita boarded a cab and asked to be brought to Quezon City. When the cab reached the corner of St. Peter and St. John streets in Barangay Horseshoe, the student reportedly used a knife to threaten taxi driver Ronaldo Quintero.

However, since robberies had happened there before, policemen had been deployed to patrol the area.

Pranada said Police Officer 3 Alain Sigua noticed the taxi driver chasing the fleeing student. He arrested Bonita and confiscated a kitchen knife and P3,500 allegedly stolen from the taxi driver.

As of yesterday afternoon, Bonita was still pleading with Quintero not to press charges against him.