‘Cops’ rob Polish tourist near Ermita mall

MANILA, Philippines - A Polish tourist was robbed by two “police officers” in front of a mall in Ermita, Manila Thursday morning, police said yesterday.

Jerzy Stanczsyk, 65, said he was walking along Maria Orosa street at around 11 a.m. when a black sport utility vehicle, with license plate RNR-363, pulled over next to him and its occupants introduced themselves as policemen.

He said the two police officers told him that he was being apprehended for jaywalking and ordered him to get into the car and empty his pockets. Stanczsyk said they also checked the contents of a bag he was holding. He said the men then threw his bag out of the vehicle and told him to pick it up lest passersby take it.

He said when he alighted from the car and checked his belongings, he found out that the men had taken his money. He added that he tried to chase the men but they had sped off.

Stanczsyk, a retired government economist, arrived in the country for a vacation two weeks ago, drawn by the stories he read about the Philippines being a good place to live after retiring, according to Police Officer 3 Adonis Aguila.

The tourist, who is currently billeted at an inn in Ermita, has given a description of the two police officers to a police cartographer, Aguila said. He added that Stanczsyk will be taken to the Manila Police District headquarters tomorrow so he could look at the photos of the MPD’s police officers.