10 men rob Landbank of P9.4M

Around 10 men robbed the LandBank Bogo branch last night escaping with an estimated P9,410,600 in cash, as declared by the establishment's manager Ramon Destajo.

Authorities are still clueless as to who pulled off the heist.

Bogo police chief Arturo Pacifico said only three men armed with handguns barged into the bank located in barangay Carbon around 7:45 p.m. after they overpowered the guard at the entrance and took his .38 cal. revolver.

The robbers then went to the teller's section where another guard was caught by surprise and quickly disarmed.

It was not established if the money was taken from the safety vault or the cash register machines, after getting the money the robbers fled onboard a green Kawasaki KMX motorcycle.

But witnesses said the men had the backup of seven others who were acted as lookouts onboard a maroon van and a pedicab; they then fled as the other three did, although in different directions.

Pacifico raised the possibility of an inside job angle, wondering why the main door was unlocked past 7 p.m. and knowing that an inventory of the bank's earnings was ongoing.

"Ato pa ning imbestigahon dili ba ni inside job kay nahibong mi nganong wala man ma-lock ang pultahan nga gabii naman," Pacifico said.

There were seven people inside the establishment at that time, the two guards and five female employees.

This is the third bank robbery this year but the biggest in terms of the amount taken. The first bank robbery was pulled against Eastwest Bank last January wherein close to P.5 million in cash was taken.

On April 8 P850,000 was robbed from Peninsula bank in Bulacao, Talisay City, allegedly by the Rey Torres group.

But Torres who was arrested in Monte Alegre, Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur, pleaded not guilty to both robberies when arraigned recently. His former partner Danny Limotan, who was arrested in Valencia Bukidnon last month, claimed their group robbed Eastwest Bank.

On August 2003, LandBank's main office in P. Del Rosario was also robbed by more than 10 men armed with M16 rifles who escaped in a white van.

About P11 million in cash was taken in that heist.

On October 26, 2001the main office was also robbed when eight men blocked the bank's car that had just left to deliver P4 million to its Mandaue City branch.