66-yr-old messenger hurt in Makati street robbery

MANILA, Philippines - A 66-year-old messenger was shot and injured after he tried to resist a robber who pounced on him as he was walking to a bank in Barangay Palanan in Makati to deposit P100,000 on Monday morning.

A report from the Makati City Police station said the victim Celedonio Salcedo was walking along Edison Street at about 11 a.m. when he was approached by the still unidentified suspect.

According to the report, Salcedo, who works for a softdrinks dealer, was grappling for the suspect’s gun when it went off.

The suspect then took off with Salcedo’s bag which contained the cash he was supposed to deposit at a nearby Philippine National Bank branch.

Police said the robber boarded a motorcycle driven by a still unidentified cohort and fled.

Salcedo, meanwhile, was rushed to the nearby St. Clare’s Medical Center for treatment of the gunshot wound on his left thigh.

The Makati Police has started the hunt for the suspects in the robbery.

Last December 26, Racquel Ricafrente, a 21-year-old floating appraiser of the Tambunting pawnshop was fatally shot in the head as she resisted two robbers riding tandem on a motorcycle also in Barangay Palanan.

According to reports, Ricafrente was walking along Dian Street at about 11 a.m. on her way to the Bank of the Philippine Island branch when the suspects cut her off at the corner of Calatagan Street.

Police said Ricafrente was about to deposit an undetermined amount of cash contained in a black bag.

According to police, the suspects wearing full crash helmets, shot Ricafrente as she resisted the robbery. After she was shot, the suspects, grabbed her bag and sped away onboard the motorcycle without license plates.