By Jennifer P. Rendon
The Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) recorded another robbery incident following the holdup of a 42-year-old woman in San Enrique town.
The incident occurred at around 8:05 a.m. on Feb. 18 in Barangay Camiri, just hours after a separate robbery in Barotac Viejo, Iloilo.
The victim, identified as alias Engelyn, a fish vendor from Barangay Cabugao Viejo, San Enrique, was on her way home from Passi City aboard a tricycle when the attack happened.
She was accompanied by her helpers, John Field, who was driving the motorcycle, and a certain Mark.
As they were making a turn along Barangay Camiri, three men wearing black long-sleeved shirts and denim pants blocked their path.
One suspect was sitting on a motorcycle while the other two flagged them down.
The robbers then brandished a short-barreled firearm and declared a holdup.
The assailants forcibly took Engelyn’s shoulder bag, which contained around PHP159,000 in cash, a mobile phone, and the certificate of registration for her motorcycle.
The suspects then fled on a motorcycle toward Passi City.
Iloilo police chief Colonel Bayani Razalan said the group behind the San Enrique robbery was different from the suspects in the Barotac Viejo incident.
Despite the series of robberies, Razalan maintained that there is no organized robbery group operating in Iloilo province.
At around 11:15 a.m. on the same day, an Indian national was also robbed in Barangay San Juan, Barotac Viejo, losing PHP4,500 to two robbers.
Unlike the San Enrique incident, one of the Barotac Viejo suspects was arrested while his companion escaped.
Before these cases, the IPPO had also recorded robbery incidents in the towns of Pavia and Sta. Barbara.
