Despite the vigilante-style killings happening around the country and the police’s intensified campaign against criminality, it’s still business as usual for some criminals.
On Tue night, Aug 9, 18-year-old Patricia (not her real name) was watching over an Internet shop in the neighborhood of Sta. Ana in Manila. Perhaps, due to the heavy rain, there were no customers at the shop.
Thus, Patricia decided to use one of the computers to work on her school project. She settled into one of the workstations. She also put her cellphone beside her.
Patricia didn’t notice a man entering the shop. The CCTV footage shows that the man stood behind Patricia and watched her at work for about three minutes. Then, he made his move.
The man punched Patricia on her side and then quickly took her cellphone. Patricia, who was left writhing in pain, could not stop the man.
An ABS-CBN News report said that a passer-by had run into the robber as he was on his way out of the shop. However, the passer-by thought nothing of it and even assumed that Patricia was just joking about being robbed.
Patricia and her mother immediately went to the village’s officials to seek help. Photos of the man have been posted in the neighborhood in a bid to catch him.
