Uniformed robbers snatch P3-million earnings of meat shop

MANILA, Philippines – Brandishing short and long firearms, a group of robbers, wearing police uniforms, disarmed a lone security guard of a building and took off with P3 million earnings of a meat shop in Muntinlupa City. The robbers acted with precision and the robbery was over in about 10 minutes, said Metro police director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales.

The robbery occurred Monday and The Star managed to get details of the incident from Rosales who has ordered an investigation when informed that somebody could have tipped off the robbers of the date and time a bank teller would collect the money.

“We are now in the process of unmasking the tipster of the robbery gang. All employees of the meat shop and security guards of the building would be subjected to tactical interrogation,” Rosales told The Star.

Reports reaching Rosales showed that a group of robbers, wearing either police athletic uniforms or general office attires covered with jackets entered the ground floor of the Park Trade Building, along Investment Drive, Filinvest, in Alabang at 2 p.m. last Monday and disarmed security guard, Cayetano Superio.

Witnesses said the robbers were also wearing black bullet-proof vests. While one of the robbers was guarding Superio, his companions positioned themselves in front of the elevator entrance and grabbed a duffel bag containing P3 million from Dennis Manriza, a Union Bank teller, once the door opened.

Investigation

The robbers also disarmed Manriza’s security guard escort, Ruperto Butron, of his issued firearm. The suspects fled towards unknown direction on board a Toyota Revo, witnesses said.

Rosales directed Southern Police District (SPD) director Chief Superintendent Jaime Calungsud to help the Muntinlupa City police in their investigation of the incident.

Superintendent Boyet Samala, SPD intelligence chief said the robbers are using the same modus operandi employed by the Alvin Flores robbery gang, tagged as responsible for a series of bigtime robberies in Metro Manila.

“They are wearing police uniforms which only the Alvin Flores robbery gang is employing,” said Samala, noting that 12 of the said gang members were killed in a shootout in Parañaque City last year.

For his part, Superintendent Leo Francisco, of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) said the money was the weekend sales of the Meat Exchange Office located at the 8th floor of the building.

Instead of bringing the money to the bank, the firm’s management decided that the bank send its representative to their office to collect their sales.

A surveillance camera recorded the robbery.