NCRPO targets bank client robbers

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Geary Barias met yesterday in Manila the five police district directors in the metropolis to launch a crackdown against the robbery gangs preying on bank clients that have just withdrawn money from private banks.

Barias held a closed-door conference with the police district directors—Chief Superintendents Roberto Rosales, Manila Police District; Luizo Ticman, Southern Police District; Leonilo dela Cruz, Eastern Police District; and Pedro Tango, Northern Police District; and Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula Jr., Quezon City Police District; at the Rizal Hall of the Manila Police District headquarters, following the series of robberies involving bank clients outside several banks in Metro Manila, the latest of which resulted in the killing of a lawyer and two Manila policemen in Paco, Manila.

Barias instructed his men to deal with the problem head-on and formulate counter-measures to stop the rising incidents of the crime.

Barias directed top police officials to intensify intelligence gathering and set up more security checkpoints in strategic areas.

“Get as much information on different robbery gangs and collate them for comparison with all the five police districts for easy monitoring of the gangs,” he said.

Barias reported that bank robbery in Metro Manila has significantly gone down from January to February this year as compared to the same period last year. However, he admitted that the robberies of bank clients that have just withdrawn money from their banks have increased.

Rosales said the criminals have changed tactics from bank robberies to attacks on bank clients.

Barias said he would meet with the heads of private security agencies deployed in local banks to get the background of security guards assigned in various banks.

There are speculations that some security guards and bank employees have provided information to the bank robbers before the bank clients were attacked.

Barias said the 37 police stations in Metro Manila would also form “counter tipster teams” against the bank client robbers.

“We are taking a serious look on the problem caused by these bank client robbers. We want them neutralized before they could instill panic among Metro Manilans,” said Barias.

Barias said the police would create new counter-measures against bank clients robbers following the killing last Monday of a lawyer-businessman Alfred Dy and two policemen during a P1 million heist in Paco, Manila.

The robbers shot dead businessman Alfred Dy and Police Officer 2 Francisco Neri and Police Officer 3 Jose Ismael Santos, both of the Ermita station, who responded to the scene.

The Manila incident came after the NCRPO recorded at least three bank client robberies last week: robbers took P2.1 million from a victim in Parañaque City, killed a 50-year-old messenger over P65,000 in Manila, and grabbed P400,000 from a couple in Marikina City.

 All of the victims had withdrawn money from a Metrobank branch minutes before they were robbed.

According to Barias, the “counter tipster teams” would be in civilian clothes and would accost suspicious-looking men in the vicinity of banks and its surroundings.  – With Non Alquitran