Thieves caught on CCTV hunted

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — The Pampanga Provincial Police Office has ordered a manhunt against the thieves who were caught on closed circuit television camera last week while victimizing the wife of a veteran columnist inside a fast food outlet in Barangay Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga last week.

Senior Supt. Gil Lebin identified the victim as Juliet Manabat, wife of Ashley Manabat, the provincial chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

The woman was dining at the McDonald’s branch in Barangay Dau at about 7:50 p.m. when the suspects, who were seated in a nearby table, surreptitiously took her handbag.

Her husband said that after he was informed of the incident, he immediately called the police.

However, when the police arrived, bureaucratic procedures at the fast food chain outlet prevented them access to the recording made by the CCTV camera, thus stalling pursuit operations.

The culprits remain at large. “It was a situation that needed immediate response. The recording could have enabled the police to pursue the group and pin them down immediately,” Manabat said.

“There was a group of four women and two men who were seated at the table behind her. Even before her shoulder bag vanished, she had already noticed one of the women acting suspiciously, but she ignored this.”

The victim said her handbag contained a mobile phone worth P24,000, credit cards, and
cash.