P2M worth of gadgets lost from robbery incidents in Rizal

Over 2 million pesos worth of gadgets were stolen from two branches of an appliance center in Rodriguez, Rizal.

According to Emil Sumangil's report on "24 Oras," some incidents were caught via closed-circuit television (CCTV).

Last week, four men onboard a motorcycle were captured arriving at the store at around five o'clock in the morning. The two went in while the others acted as look-outs. They did not take off their helmets as they went through the cellphone stands. They quickly fled after stealing the gadgets.

The police later found shelves and broken cellphone stands emptied of contents.

According to the owner, the value of the stolen gadgets was over P700,000.

"Yung kinuha talaga nila is piling unit lang as in yung matataas yung halaga. Mas mabilis po idispose and alam ko na meron silang binabagsakan," said the owner, Lenie Reyes Parale.

(They stole high-end cellphone units, these are easier to dispose because they know sellers.)

Before this incident, a store branch also located in Rodriguez was also robbed in September 2022. A CCTV footage showed how the suspect slipped into the exhaust fan to enter the establishment.

Parale said almost half a million worth of items were stolen in September, and just this month, two branches were robbed by suspects, but they could not get footage because even the central processing unit (CPU) was stolen.

She said they took over P2 million worth of gadgets from all the branches robbed by the suspects.

"Sobrang sakit kasi napakalaki po ng losses na nagawa talaga sa sunod sunod na pagpasok nila sa tindahan namin," Parale shared.

(It's very painful because of our huge loss, and they were able to do it in different branches.)

Meanwhile, the Rodriguez Police have already filed a case against them.

The owner appealed to other establishments around the area that may have also been victimized by the suspects to also cooperate in the investigation.

"Sana magbigay din sila ng footage ng CCTV nila para pag-ugnay-ugnayin natin," she added.

(I hope they also give CCTV footage so the series of robberies can be traced.) -- Sherylin Untalan/BAP, GMA Integrated News