P’panga pawnshop loses P1.2 M in cash, jewelry to burglars

MABALACAT CITY, Philippines – A pawnshop in this Pampanga city lost some P1.2 million in cash, jewelry and other items to robbers who entered it through a tunnel it had dug up from a nearby canal along the MacArthur Highway during the recent long “Undas” (All Saints’ Day) weekend, according to a belated police report.

The robbers, tagged as belonging to the “daga-daga (rodent)” group because of their modus operandi, are believed also responsible for heists in other pawnshops and lending firms across the province.

Superintendent Ferdinand Perez, city police chief, said the group victimized the NW Pawnshop in Barangay San Franciso here during the recent holidays.

Police quoted Shiela Salas, 37, an appraiser of NW Pawnshop, as saying that everything was intact when she left the establishment at around 5 p.m. last Nov. 2.

Police said a resident in Barangay Balibago, Angeles City is now being investigated after witnesses saw him near the pawnshop when the burglary occurred. They withheld his identity pending the filing of charges against him.

Perez said the pawnshop did not have a closed-circuit television camera or a security guard.

“This is in violation of a local ordinance penalizing financial institutions, including lending firms and pawnshops,” he said.