A robber carted away over P26,000 in proceeds from a rice store in Oton town, Province of Iloilo.

According to the store attendant, identified only as alias “Toto,” a robber held him up afternoon on May 24, 2025 inside the store in Barangay Poblacion South, Oton.

Toto told GMA Regional TV One Western Visayas that while he was attending to a customer, a man wearing a jacket and a cap poked a knife at him and declared a holdup. 

“Inabot nya ang kaha, ang isang kamay may patalim. Sumigaw ako ngunit walang tinig na lumabas,” alias Toto narrated.

As soon as the robber took the store proceeds, he fled the scene.

Based on police investigation, the robber may have been familiar with the store and was just waiting for a chance to pounce at the store attendant.

“Nag-iisa lang ang bantay dyan na nagbebenta ng bigas. In fact, hindi rin na-alarma ang mga nasa paligid kasi hindi siya nakasigaw dahil naunahan daw ng takot,” Lieutenant Colonel Abner Jordan, chief of Oton Municipal Police Station, said.

The holdupper was on his own and did not have a getaway vehicle.

It was further learned that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera in the area did not work the day the incident happened because of a power interruption.