Bus robbed in Las Pinas

By Miko Morelos

Philippine Daily Inquirer

September 01, 2010

EIGHTEEN passengers of a commuter bus bound for Manila were held up by five armed men who placed their loot inside a sack.

The robbery took place at around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday as the bus was traveling on Alabang-Zapote Road in Las Piñas City.

Chief Insp. Prudencio Parejas of the city police said the group stole at least P70,000 worth of cash, cell phones and jewelry.

Their loot also included automated teller machine, credit and identification cards. He added that the five men were later identified by their victims through police file photos of known criminals.

Modus operandi According to Parejas, the robbers were members of a group which the police had dubbed as “Sako Gang” because they place their loot inside a sack. He added that the five men had been arrested before for the same crime.

The victims in the latest robbery told the police that the five men had boarded the bus earlier. As the vehicle passed by a gas station, the robbers stood up and at gunpoint, divested the passengers of their belongings.

They then told the driver to stop the bus before alighting from the vehicle and fleeing on foot in different directions.

 The Southern Police District (SPD) has been trying to arrest members of the gang since the start of the year after it received reports about robberies being carried out by the group in the areas under its jurisdiction.

The SPD covers the cities of Makati, Pasay, Taguig, Paranaque, Las Piñas and Muntinlupa, and the town of Pateros. Since the identification of some members of the gang, the Las Piñas police have been conducting a hunt to neutralize its members.

Scary…the victims were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. The Las Pinas Police should do something about this (once again).

Maybe they can have check points or something.

Let’s all be careful, guys…