Thieves rob cars parked near Cotabato mall

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Burglars robbed over the weekend two cars parked near a new mall in Cotabato City, just as a crowd was witnessing the inauguration of the establishment.

The crime scene is less than 500 meters from gate of the People’s Palace, seat of the Cotabato City local government.

A local member of the Bureau of Fire Protection, 29-year-old Patrick Luan Uy, reported to the police that he lost to robbers a bag containing a mobile phone and his service uniforms, which he left inside his car.

Uy’s vehicle was parked within the periphery of the tightly-guarded Mall of Alnor southwest of the city, near the Cotabato Regional Medical Center.

Benjamin Bacar Jr., 47, also complained of losing a laptop computer and a mobile phone to thieves who forcibly opened his Ford pick-up truck parked just meters away from the newly launched establishment.

Senior Superintendent Rex Anongos, director of the Cotabato City police, said he had instructed the chief of the Police Precinct II to investigate on the robbery incidents.

Barangay officials have deployed volunteer watchmen around the mall to help prevent a repeat of the attacks.