10-man rob gang hits bank in Manila

In a span of five minutes, at least 10 men with high-powered firearms robbed the Allied Bank branch on Mabini street in Manila then exchanged fire with responding security guards before escaping with an undetermined amount of money.

Superintendent Antonio Arellano, chief of Western Police District (WPD) Station 9, said bystander Daniel Moss, 22, was hit by stray bullets in the leg.

A bank employee said one of their security guards, identified as Salvador Chingco, was hit with the butt of a caliber .45 caliber pistol over his right eye when he refused to hand over his service M-16 rifle to the suspects.

Both men were taken to the Ospital ng Maynila for medical treatment.

Mamantik Maliga, a security officer of the Corps Security Agency and assigned to a fastfood outlet across the bank, said the robbery and shooting happened in a span of five minutes.

"I saw the suspects carry out one large bag and one small bag. They boarded their get-away vehicles and sped off toward Taft Avenue," Maliga said.

Radio reports indicated that the suspects boarded a green Toyota Revo and a Mitsubishi L-300 van.

The suspects were wearing military uniforms, ski masks and bonnets.

They were armed with M-203 grenade rifles, M-14s and M-16s. Several spent shells were found at the crime scene.

The WPD bomb squad cordoned off the parking area to detonate at least three recovered M-203 grenades.

"The M-203 firing pins had already been dislodged and it might be dangerous to leave it because it could go off anytime," Arellano said.

Initial information showed that armed men stormed the Allied Bank located at the corner of P. Ocampo street and Mabini at around 1:45 p.m. The bank was located some 20 meters away from WPD Station 9.

Security personnel manning the bank’s armored vans, which were parked at a vacant lot beside the bank, heard several gunshots coming from inside the bank and immediately responded.

They mobilized their vans and positioned one (TEG-866) in front of the bank in an attempt to block the suspects’ escape.

The second van (TEA-998) was also placed in front of the bank. They were unable to position the third van (TEM-615) because one of the suspects fired a rifle grenade at the vehicle , blowing up its right front wheel.

A shootout between the robbers and the security officers ensued.

The bank’s glass wall sustained four bullet holes during the shootout.

Even the signboard of The Century Seafood Restaurant, located across the bank’s parking lot, was hit.