Police arrested three Turkish nationals in Mandaue City this week for allegedly stealing cash and cell phone cards in various supermarkets and gasoline stations in the city.

Superintendent Bernard Tambaoan, Mandaue City Police Office Deputy for Operations, said the three suspects - Luons Bagan, 25; Zaynab Gurhan, 50; and an unidentified minor -- were arrested at a gasoline station.

Tambaoan said the three foreigners would usually enter a gasoline station or supermarket and ask the cashier for the highest Philippine bill so that they could compare it with their own money. The three would then ask the cashier to get the security guard so that they could complain. Once the cashier leaves, the three would then take money and other goods in the cashier's corner.

At least ten cashiers have flocked to the MCPO after hearing of the Turkish nationals' arrest.

Alona Villa, a cashier of White Gold Club, was fuming as she narrated how she lost P34,000 to the suspects last February 1. "I will never forgive them! Never! I had to pay for the lost money and my salary is never enough to pay it in a million years!" she said in the local dialect.

Shell Easy Gas cashier Maricris Pesida told ABS-CBN News that she never imagined that the three foreigners would do what they did.

"I never expected the three to be robbers, they asked me to let them see P 1,000 so I gave it to them. after a few minutes, 17 cellular phone call cards worth P 300 were gone from my table, I don't know how they got it," she said.

Other establishments victimized by the three were the Shell Gasoline Station, which lost P2,300 last January 8; a local Happy Mart, which lost P8,000 on the same day; a Foodsavers Mart that lost P34,000 last February 2 and a Kagura store that lost P10,000 last January 25.

Video stills from a surveillance camera at the local Happy Mart showed how the three nationals took the money from the store.

The suspects, however, denied the allegations. They said they had just arrived in Cebu a week ago, making it impossible for them to commit the robbery.

"No, we don't do it, we are innocent," said the only minor in the group.

Tambaoan told ABS-CBN the suspects could be members of an organized robbery syndicate that operates in the entire country. He also said the suspects' vehicle did not have a license plate.

"We will study the cases we will file against them. It could be robbery, swindling. We shall see," he said.

Tambaoan said he will report the incident at the Bureau of Immigration to ask for the possible deportation of the three suspects.

MCPO officials also called on other possible victims of the suspects to surface.

* We must be cautious in everything that we do. There are really different kinds of people and you just can't base your opinion on them based on their physical appearance. It's just hard on these people who were victims of such robbery since they are the once who will also pay for the stolen amount that was being robbed by these swindlers. I really hope they could still get back the money or goods that were stolen so that they won't have to pay on their own account. And these swindlers had the right to be sentenced for what they have done based on our laws if they are proven guilty. *