Friends of Scottish rob victim ask financial aid

Friends of 44-year-old Scottish national Tarek Naggar who was shot in front of his fiancee in Talisay City last Friday are raising funds to pay for his mounting medical bills.

The fundraiser was posted at gofundme.com organized by Naggar’s friends Kevin O’Connor and Chris McLaughlin.

McLaughlin, the 40-year-old best friend of Naggar, told Cebu Daily News that his friend was now recuperating at a private hospital in southern Cebu after undergoing surgery to remove a bullet which had entered his right chest but ricocheted over to his left lung.

“Tarek (Naggar) is doing better. He had the operation and in recovery now. The Fundme page is to cover all his medical bills,” McLaughlin told CDN in a Facebook chat.

As of the moment, they do not know how much money is needed for Naggar.

When CDN checked the site at 3:40 p.m., Monday, they already raised 2,528 British pounds out of their £10,000 goal.

The incident happened at past 2 o’clock dawn last July 21, Friday, outside a convenience store where Naggar, his fiancee Angie Bacaran and Mclaughlin bought drinks and sat there for a while.

Mclaughlin was next to Naggar when three men arrived on a motorbike and declared a hold up.

“I was further back when that happened and wasn’t aware until I heard a commotion going on then I ran over just as they shot him and grabbed the wallet,” he told CDN.

Naggar, a carpenter by trade and a native of Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, was supposed to marry Bacaran the day after he was shot.

The victim arrived in the Philippines in December 2016 and lived in St. Jude Acres, Barangay Bulacao, Talisay City with his fiancee.

He was planning to move to Thailand with Bacaran.

“I would just like to say I hope they’re caught they were willing to kill a man for a very small amount of money,” Mclaughlin said of Naggar’s assailants.

Naggar’s wallet contained 500 pesos and some documents.

In spite of their bad experience in the country, Mclaughlin said that every person they have met or contacted during the incident were friendly and helpful.

“It shows how nice the people of the Philippines really are,” he added.

Talisay City police chief Supt. Emerson Dante said police investigators are now looking at footage from CCTV cameras around the area to determine the identity of the three attackers.

A police attache from the British embassy is also set to arrive in Cebu to assist Naggar’s case, said Bacaran whose wedding to Naggar was cancelled last Saturday in view of the incident.