'Policemen' rob, rape fish vendors in Tondo

Seven heavily armed men who introduced themselves as policemen robbed, raped, and abandoned a group of fish vendors on a deserted road Thursday midnight after commandeering and later hijacking their vehicle in Tondo, Manila.

The robbers, on board a stainless jeep and wearing shirts marked PNP (Philippine National Police) 2000, reportedly cut the path of the victims' stainless jeep while it was cruising Road 10 in Tondo and ordered them to go to a dimly lit area where they were divested of their Divisoria market earnings and other valuables.

All the fish vendors were women except their driver, who was a brother of the two victims raped by two of the holdupmen.

SPO4 Nicolas Aspeli said the fish vendors, Amelia, 24, and Angie, 22, were dragged into a dark alley along the road where their faces were covered and were raped right where they stood. The victims said their rapists did not bother to undress them and satisfied themselves in just about a minute.

The armed men, four of them carrying M-16 rifles, then escaped aboard their own stainless jeep and also the victims' jeep, forcing them to travel on foot until they reached the nearest Tondo police station.

Western Police District (WPD) Theft and Robbery Unit head Superintendent Efren Perez said they are now preparing cartographic sketches of some of the holdupmen to help them in their pursuit operation.

The victims lost a total of P25,000 in cash receipts to the robbers, excluding their personal valuables. "We don't know if these holdup men were really policemen but it may just be part of their ploy to mislead their victims," said Aspeli.