By Kate Christian Ravelo

Two Japanese men reported to Makati police they lost their belongings in separate incidents as these crimes involving Japanese continue to rise.

In an interview with the Daily Manila Shimbun, a Filipino companion of a Japanese victim stated that he and five other Japanese nationals had lunch at a restaurant inside a mall at Ayala Avenue on Thursday afternoon when the incident occurred.

A victim looked for his phone when he noticed that his bag, which was under the table, was missing.

Through a CCTV footage furnished by the restaurant, the victim said his bag was allegedly stolen by a man wearing a blue polo shirt and a denim pants. He was being covered by a man wearing a white hat and a gray polo shirt.

He added that at least four other accomplices were present. The victims also identified that some persons of interest had records in the investigation.

A sling bag containing a passport, phone, wallet, assorted cards, IDs, and cash amounting to 60,000 yen (P23,010) and P3,500 was taken from the victim.

In a separate incident, a 24-year-old Japanese man lost his bag containing his passport, IDs, cards, and money worth P2,500 as two masked men forcibly took his belongings on Wednesday morning.

According to a police report, the victim was going to a spa when suspects riding a motorcycle pointed a gun at the victim and snatched his bag. One of the suspects fired a gun at the grounds before leaving the crime scene.

The authorities recovered a cartridge case at the place of the incident, which will undergo a ballistic cross-matching examination.

Makati police will also coordinate with the establishments and the CCTV footage to identify the route of the unidentified suspects.

Coordination with the Mandaluyong and Pasig police will be conducted to confirm if the suspects have previous records of motorcycle-riding crimes.

These are the first robbery and theft incidents against Japanese nationals recorded since the installation of Col. Reycon Garduque as the new acting Makati Police chief. There are a total of eight such incidents targetting Japanese since October 2024. DMS