By JUNE S. BLANCO

The suspect who robbed a city councilor's wife Wednesday night took off with P.3 million – not P3 million. Businesswoman Joanne Rochelle Villamor-Bompat, 28, of Purok 1, Dao District, wife of Tagbilaran City Councilor Joseph Bompat and niece of Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2ndDistrict) clarified that she lost P367,000 – not the bigger amount – to avoid confusion. The blotter at the Tagbilaran City Police Office showed that Bompat was in a car that had parked in front of the Uptown Lodge along M. H. del Pilar Street at around 7:55 p.m. Her driver went out to buy some grocery items. She followed suit to buy bottled water. When she went back inside the car, however, the suspect followed her in, poked a sharp instrument, most likely knife, into her stomach and declared a robbery.

Bompat attempted to struggle but the suspect pulled out a gun of unidentified caliber from his waist and pointed it to her. Fear made her give up further struggle. She let go of her bag, the money representing her sales placed in an envelope, and her defective S3 Samsung cellphone. The money had been paid to her by her travel agency patrons, for air fare, hotel and tour bookings. She said the suspect wore a helmet and a dark jersey-type jacket. With the loot, he went straight to an apparently waiting motorcycle driven by a helmet- and jacket wearing driver. She cried for help but people milling around the area did not approach her, apparently out of fear. Bompat sustained an abrasion in the right part of her abdomen and a spiked blood pressure. She was brought to the Borja Family Hospital for treatment.