Taiwanese, companion lose P300K to muggers in Butuan

BUTUAN CITY—A Taiwanese man and his Filipino companion lost some P300,000 in cash when they were mugged in this northeastern Mindanao city Thursday evening, according to police. Butuan City Police Station 3 reported that 50-year-old Chin Chang Chin, married to a Filipina, and his wife’s uncle Julio Esmana, 49, were by mugged by five still unidentified men in Purok 12, Barangay Lumbocan. According to Chang, the assailants mauled them first before seizing some P300,000 in cash from them. Assisted by a concerned citizen, Chang reported the incident to the police, saying that he left Esmana at the scene of the crime to seek help. Returning to the site with Chin, police officers found Esmana badly beaten and with a gunshot wound in the lower back. Esmana was rushed to Agusan del Norte Provincial Hospital and is now undergoing medical treatment. Police said they are still investigating the incident.—Ben Serrano/JMA/JV, GMANews.TV