Robbers torch condo unit to escape cops; 1 dead, 2 hurt

MANILA, Philippines – A 34-year-old woman died while two others were wounded when two unidentified robbers engaged police officers in a shootout and set fire to a condominium unit they ransacked in Parañaque City before dawn yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Ariel Andrade, city police chief, said he has ordered an investigation into the death of Rolene Actoan, 34, an occupant of one of the units at Kassel Residences, to determine if she died from suffocation caused by smoke from the fire started by the robbers or the tear gas thrown by responding police officers.

The other victims were identified as Senior Police Officer 4 Charlie Mallorca and security guard Allan John Daranada.

According to initial reports, Daranada was patrolling the condominium’s corridors when he chanced upon the robbers looting Unit 403 at around 1 a.m.

The robbers, armed with handguns, shot at the guard and hit him in the right thigh.

Police officers surrounded the compound but the robbers escaped by burning the unit as a “diversionary tactic,” Andrade said, adding that the robbers were able to slip past the police officers by joining the residents fleeing the fire.

At least three residents, including a policeman, were taken to a nearby hospital.

Andrade said investigators are waiting for doctors to clear the wounded guard for interview so they could get a description of the robbers, who “could be among the residents of the building.”

An official of Barangay Moonwalk said the burned unit has not been visited by its owner for nearly a year. It was unclear whether the robbers were able to take cash or valuables from the unit.

A barangay security official said a closed-circuit television camera installed in front of the condominium recorded the incident.

“We saw people coming out of the compound but we have no idea who among them are the robbers,” the official said.