Salesmen robbed, locked inside van

CEBU, Philippines - Three men robbed three tobacco company employees of P40,000 cash and locked them inside a van Tuesday afternoon in Barangay La Paz, Bogo City.

Mighty Tobacco Corporation salesman Junmar Sanchez, 28, helper Darwin Jugan, 29, and van driver Elmer Pilapil, 31, said they were robbed and locked up inside the van by three armed robbers who rode on a motorcycle.

Police investigation showed the victims were about to disembark from the van they were riding to supposedly deliver packs of cigarettes to a regular customer when three men on a Suzuki Smash motorcycle arrived around 2 p.m. and declared a holdup.

One of the robbers, who was described to be fair-skinned, 5’6” tall and wearing a gray jacket and dark red helmet, pointed a gun at Sanchez and Jugan and took the money.

Before fleeing, the robbers ordered the victims to go to the back of the van and locked them inside it.

The victims shouted for help and a passing resident opened the van and rescued them. They reported the incident to the police.

The police conducted a hot pursuit operation against the robbers but failed to locate them.

On February 14, three employees of the same company were robbed by three men of their P30,000 sales in San Fernando town before they were locked inside their van.

Four days earlier, a team of sales agents were robbed of P20,000 and locked inside their service vehicle in the town of Carmen. — (FREEMAN)