UP Diliman heist suspects 'incurred losses'

The armed men who staged the armored van robbery inside the University of the Philippines-Diliman campus last week actually operated at a loss when they took away less than P50,000, a police source said yesterday.

Citing an initial statement from the Philippine Veterans Bank, the police official, who requested anonymity, said this makes the heist “a small hit if not for the three deaths (in the incident).”

A band of robbers attacked an armored van outside a branch of the Philippine Veterans Bank at the UP Bahay ng Alumni last Nov. 10 and shot dead two security guards and a teller.

Sought for comment, Quezon City Police District deputy director for operations Senior Superintendent Federico Laciste Jr. said the group has been “incurring losses” because of these “small hits” in which they spent a lot of money to plan.

Laciste, who heads the special investigation task force formed to solve the robbery and the killings, said because of these “small hits,” the robbers cannot break even with their “investments” in logistics like vehicles and firearms.

According to Laciste, they have recovered eight vehicles from the same robbery group during their encounters with the police in the past year, in which more than 10 suspects have been killed.

School board, cops hold dialogue

The National Police Commission (Napolcom) is scheduled to begin dialogues with UP board of regents today on the issue of safety and security at the campus.

Members of the task force formed to look into an existing memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the university and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are expected to push for a re-evaluation of its provisions and recommend revisions.

Interior and Local Government Secretary and Napolcom chairman Ronaldo Puno created the body last week following the armored van robbery.

Napolcom vice chairman Eduardo Escueta, who heads the task force, said the existing MOA was forged in 1992 and amended several times, with the last revision done in 2000.

Escueta said the Napolcom wishes to focus on the procedural part of the agreement, which states when the police can and cannot come in when a crime occurs at the campus.

He said revising the MOA or introducing amendments that will suit the times do not mean intruding in the affairs of UP.

Puno, in forming the task force, expressed concern over how some very violent crimes have happened in university premises in the past years, including the kidnapping, robbery, and the brutal killing of labor leader Felimon “Ka Popoy” Lagman in 2001. – Reinir Padua, Michael Punongbayan