Cabbie robbed by streetkids he tried to help

MANILA, Philippines - A taxi driver was robbed of his earnings for the day by at least five street children when he stopped to give one of them P20 in Caloocan City Wednesday night.

Chief Inspector Chris Galvez, chief of the city police intelligence unit, said Julio Cabanes, 41, a driver of Espitor taxi (PVK-204), lost P2,700 to the street children.

“But we recovered at least P1,400 of the victim’s hard-earned money when we apprehended four of the six suspects,” Galvez told The STAR.

Galvez said Cabanes was driving his taxi when he passed by several street children along Kalye Uno in Barangay 81 at around 8:30 p.m.

One of the boys approached Cabanes’ cab as he slowed down due to traffic. The boy begged for some loose change for his food and Cabanes opened the vehicle’s door to hand him money.

It was then that at least five other street children appeared and grabbed a small box Cabanes was holding and ran towards nearby dark alleys. The box contained his earnings for the day.

Cabanes’ sought the assistance of the police, who scoured the streets of Barangay 81 and were able to apprehend one of the suspects, a 12-year-old boy.

Cabanes identified the boy as the one who begged him for money. He told the police the whereabouts of his companions, resulting in the arrest of three other boys, aged 13, 14 and 16.

Two others were able to flee with some of Cabanes’ money.

“These are delinquent kids, causing the police a lot of headaches. We often apprehend them for petty street crimes but the moment we turn them over to the social welfare, the following day they are back on the streets doing the same things,” Galvez said.

Galvez urged the local social welfare department “to create a special facility intended only for recidivist delinquent kids to reform them.”

The police were set to turn over the street children to the local social welfare office yesterday. – Pete Laude