Robbers bind, beat up Las Piñas family

MANILA, Philippines - Robbers barged into the home of a magazine employee in Pamplona 3, Las Piñas City yesterday afternoon, hogtying his family and beating up the employee.

Dennis Cruz Guevara, who works as an account executive of the Philippines Graphic magazine, said the robbers kicked, punched and pistol-whipped him. Another one tried to shoot him, but the gun jammed.

Five armed men entered his home in Greenview Subdivision at around 3 p.m., according to Guevara.

He said the robbers were really targeting their neighbor’s house but upon realizing that it would be hard to force their way in, the armed men decided to rob his house.

The neighbor’s househelp told police investigators that the robbers presented themselves as representatives of a telecommunications firm who were ordered to install a DSL connection, Guevara said.

He added that the robbers hogtied him along with his daughter, wife and sister-in-law, blindfolding them and gagging them with tape before taking off with P250,000 worth of valuables.

“They took everything they could carry: mobile phones, jewelry, appliances, laptops, my gun, even makeup and my daughter’s snacks,” Guevara said, adding that his daughter was traumatized and has not uttered a word since the robbery.

He said he reported the robbery to the Las Piñas police, which is conducting an investigation.

The Southern Police District said it has yet to release a statement on the incident since it is still under investigation.