Cab driver robs Japanese tourists

MANILA, Philippines - Two Japanese tourists lost their belongings to a taxi driver they hired to take them from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to a motel in Manila before dawn yesterday.

Kawashina Yuki, 29, and Shingo Kumagawa, 28, both of Konagawa, Japan, told the Manila Police District General Assignment and Investigation Section that they hired the taxi after arriving at the airport at around 1:30 a.m. and asked to be taken to a motel in Malate.

However, while preparing to unload their bags from the compartment, the cab driver took off with their belongings, Yuki said.

Police Officer 3 Jay Jacob said both tourists lost all their important personal items and several gadgets, which they would have used in touring the country.

He added that it would be hard for them to assist the complainants because they were not able to get the cab’s plate number.

Yuki and Kumagawa said they are never coming back and would tell their friends and relatives about their sad experience in the country.