METROPOLICE: Burglar takes gadgets, cash

CEBU, Philippines - An estimated P100,000 worth of gadgets and cash was lost to a woman when their house at Mayol Compound in Barangay Alang-alang, Mandaue City was burglarized Sunday dawn.

Kate Benica Maringuran, 21, said she and her siblings lost the items after the suspects detached the jalousies at the living room of their house and went straight to their respective rooms and carted away the valuables while they were all asleep.

Among the items lost were a high-end phone worth P35,000, another phone worth P5,000, a netbook worth P15,000, a tablet worth P20,000, another tablet worth P3,500, cash amounting to P5,000 and a coin purse with P1,800.

Senior Police Officer 2 Marcos Noval, investigator of the Investigative and Detective Management Bureau said that last Monday morning, one of the suspects allegedly called up the victim as he wanted to ask P3,500 from her in exchange for the return of the high-end phone.

An entrapment operation was then conducted after the suspect and the victim agreed to meet at a fastfood restaurant inside a mall at the North Reclamation Area noontime Monday.

However, when both met, the suspect was able to sense that he and his companion were surrounded by the police. They hurriedly left the place but were chased by the police.

Noval said during the chase, the suspect got panic and threw the phone at him before boarding on a passenger multicab.

Noval said he pursued the chase at the reclamation area but unluckily, the suspect was no longer inside the vehicle.

Noval said a follow-up operation will be conducted against the suspects who are believed to be just neighbors of the victim. — (FREEMAN)