By Boy Guingguing | October 11, 2009

A sexagenarian couple that had just exchanged their dollars into pesos were victimized by three armed men last Oct. 6.

The victims were identified as Felipe Hagupit, 69, married, and his wife Teresita, 67.

The couple was with their children Pablito, 44, Esperidion, 39, and Salome, 37, and their nephew and driver Roseller Hagupit, all residents of Sitio 4, Barangay Poblacion, Dagohoy town.

According to police records, the incident took place about 10:40 am last Tuesday near a mall in Dampas district.

The Hagupits had just emerged from the mall after exchanging their dollars for pesos when the three suspects suddenly approached them.

The suspects armed with Uzi and .45 caliber handguns declared a hold-up just as the victims were about to board their service multicab.

One of the suspects aimed his gun on Teresita’s neck and instructed them not to shout because they only wanted the money.

She initially refused to hand over her shoulder bag containing the money but one of the children pleaded with her to give in because the gun was aimed at her.

The loot amounted to P42,000.

As soon as they had the money in their possession, the suspects immediately fled in tandem with three other men.

They rode aboard two maroon Kawasaki Baja motorcycles and one Honda XRM and headed in the direction of the dump site towards Barangay Canggining, Baclayon.

The victims shouted for help, alerting the security guard in the mall who immediately relayed the holdup to the Tagbilaran PNP.

One of the suspects identified as Valerio Butron, 46, married and a resident of Barangay Del Pilar, Pilar town and an employee of the Sangguniang Bayan was subsequently arrested.

The victims positively identified Butron as the one who drove one of the Kawasaki Bajaj motorcycles which was recovered by pursuing policemen.

Butron had P10,200 cash in his possession which police suspected was part of the loot. A subsequent search yielded P35,000 more in his underwear.

Hagupit said they withdrew $900 from an account at the Philippine National Bank and then changed it into pesos at the mall.

He suspected a neighbor in his hometown was an accomplice of the suspect. This suspicion was boosted when a text message was sent to Butron’s mobile phone warning them that they are being hunted by the police.

A suspect identified as one Stephen Naquila, 27, was subsequently taken into police custody for questioning in connection with the hold-up.