Salisi maid strikes anew

CEBU, Philippines - A newly-hired househelp carted away with more than P200,000 worth  of  jewelry from her employer in Arevalo district of Iloilo City.

Arevalo Police investigators said the suspect, known only as Lyn-Lyn, could be the same woman who also victimized another family at Fatima Village in Barangay Sta. Cruz, also of Arevalo, last May 19.

Senior Inspector Tranquilino Querubin, Arevalo Police chief, described the suspect as salisi, for using the same modus in the two incidents.

According to Eduardo Labanero, a pedicab driver, Regel Paingason, persuaded them into hiring Lyn-Lyn. Since Paingason attested that Lyn-Lyn was his relative, the family agreed. Immediately after, Lyn-Lyn told her employers that she would start cleaning the house and then asked for rags and other cleaning tools.

It was surmised that when the cleaning tools were being taken, she sneaked inside the bedroom and took the jewelry. "It was quick because she was back before the rags could even be brought to her," Querubin said.

After three hours since she set foot on the house, Lyn-Lyn asked permission to go home first citing that she had to get her personal belongings. But to the surprise of  the victims, no Lyn-Lyn returned to them and so were their jewelry pieces.

Paingason later claimed he did not personally know Lyn-Lyn, who only told him she was looking for a job as a housemaid. She also asked Paingason to introduce her as his relative to which the pedicab driver agreed.

Last May 15, another family from Villa Carolina at Yulo Drive in Arevalo, also claimed they lost P30,000 worth of  jewelry from their newly-hired househelp.

The woman, who also identified herself as Lyn-Lyn, befriended the victim by claiming that they were town mates in Sara, Iloilo. Just like the latest incident, she also wanted to clean the house first and later asked permission to get her belongings. "She could be researching about her target victims," Querubin said.

Investigators have been verifying if Lyn-Lyn was part of a salisi gang whose modus operandi is to rob household employers.

Salisi, which literally means "to go unnoticed," is a modus operandi where suspects victimized their targets while they are distracted or not attentive of their belongings.

As described, Lyn-Lyn stands at 5'4" and is sporting a curly hair. A chubby lass, she is of fair complexion, has a mole, and a noticeably nice set of teeth. (FREEMAN)