Robbers stop van of M. Lhuillier managers near Mactan bridge

Armed men on  two motorbikes held up a van of pawnshop managers in  Lapu-Lapu City and made off with a bag of jewelry worth about P5 million.

The robbers smashed the windshield of the van, which had just fetched six managers of the M. Lhuillier pawnshop chain from the Mactan airport.

A black Hyundai Starex van overtook the target vehicle, forcing it to slow down near the approach of the Manuel Fernan Bridge.

“I believe the robbers had advance information because they were already in place waiting for them,” said Jude Millares, general manager of Mlhuillier.

He said the managers, who flew in from Cagayan de Oro and Ozamis City, were here to attend the company’s regional meeting.

Millares said the stolen pieces were an assortment of brand-new jewelry and pawned items.  They included rings, bracelets, watches, and necklaces of gold, diamond and precious stones.

The managers arrived on two flights in the afternoon and  were fetched by a company-owned van.

As the company’s gray Toyota Innova reached Manuel L. Quezon Street and was about to go up the Marcelo Fernan Bridge, a  black van overtook the vehicle, which was forced to slow down.

Three motorcycles suddenly appeared. The riders, who did not cover their faces, were armed with .45-caliber guns.

They approached the van and used a hammer to smash the windows in the front passenger’s side and the driver’s windshield.

They took a bag from a manager  seated in front. Inside the bag  was the jewelry, two laptops and P10,000 cash.

“If they got everything, P5 million is too small for the value.  We were told by the general manager that was only one-third of it,” said  Senior Supt. Anthony Obenza, director of Lapu-Lapu City Police Office.

About four to six men pulled off the operation and fled to Cebu City.

Police tried to chase them but ended up only with an abandoned motorcycle.

The managers arrived in two groups. First to arrive were managers from Cagayan de Oro around 1:20 p.m., identified as Manuel Quiero Jr., Antonio Bueno and Ceasar Lisondra Jr.,

The next batch arrived from Ozamis City about 1:40 p.m. They were identified as Agustin Wagas, Grace Degracia and Abbis Ares. They were fetched by a the company driver Mariolito Obenita.

It was not clear whether the holdup was pulled off by a syndicate or local hoodlums, said Insp. William Homoc, chief of the Theft and Robbery Section.

The police are holding on to seven mobile phones of the van occupants and the hammer left behind by the holduppers. Obenza said it was too early to rule out an inside job.

Roadblocks were set up in Cebu City  but the holduppers, who used two motorbikes and two vans, evaded the dragnet.

Yesterday’s roadside holdup recalled a similar March 2008 daylight robbery of couriers of Cebuana Lhuillier Pawnshop, also done in Lapu-Lapu City.

About P1 million worth of jewelry was taken from pawnshop employees who were on board a Toyota Revo wagon.

They were on their way to Cebu City when the vehicle was intercepted by a dark green car at the foot of the Marcelo Fernan Bridge past noon.

The employees thought that it was a police checkpoint because there were two men in camouflage uniform with the word “POLICE.” The robbers were armed with M-16 rifles and .45-caliber pistols.   The employees were made to drop on the ground as the robbers took the bags containing the jewelry and transferred them to the baggage compartment of their car and sped off to Mandaue City.