Turkish Embassy robberies remain unsolved

Residents of Makati City’s Dasmariñas Village, a posh residential subdivision where foreign embassies are located and foreign diplomats and well-known personalities reside, supposedly enjoy top-notch security.

However, two recent robberies which remain unsolved now cast doubts on the safety of the community from criminal elements.

Reports gathered from the Makati Police Department (MPD) showed that the Turkish Embassy, located along Paraiso street, was robbed twice in just two weeks.

The first incident took place on June 21 and P54,900 worth of visa and visa authentication payments stashed inside a cash box and kept inside a table drawer was taken.

The money was discovered missing several days after it was turned over for safekeeping to an employee, identified as Juan Felongco.

The second robbery took place 12 days later on July 4 and was promptly reported to the Station Investigation Section (SIS).

Security guard Mario Garcia said that unidentified men went inside the Turkish Embassy after posing as security personnel.

One of the three suspects reportedly showed him an identification card identifying him as a security inspector so he allowed him in.

The suspect allegedly poked a gun at him while two of his cohorts disarmed him of two caliber .38 revolvers.

The suspects, a police report said, managed to enter the office of Admin Attaché Sibel Salin and the office of Catherine Castillejos, the secretary.

The Turkish Embassy has yet to submit to investigators a list of all items lost in the second robbery, pending completion of an inventory.

In a special report to MPD chief Superintendent Jovito Gutierrez, PO3 Ricky Corpuz, officer on case, said the twin robberies suggest an inside job.

"This investigator believes that the perpetrators are probably some of the employees or guards at the embassy or one of the employees or guards conspired with the suspects," he explained.

Corpuz recommended that employees and security guards of the Turkish Embassy be subjected to a polygraph test and required to explain in writing why they should not be cited for negligence.

He noted that there were security cameras installed outside the Turkish Embassy but none had videos which could identify the suspects.

Corpus said follow-up operations are being conducted by theft and robbery section operatives in an effort to solve the case and retrieve whatever was lost.

Residents of Dasmariñas Village are protected by security personnel of the Dasmariñas Village Association Inc. (DVM). It is uncertain as to how the robbers managed to enter and leave the subdivision’s premises and stage a robbery without getting caught.