8 men rob Makati bank, shoot at patrol car

MANILA, Philippines – Eight unidentified armed men robbed a Union Bank branch in Makati City and shot at a mobile police car before escaping towards Osmeña Superhighway yesterday afternoon.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Cedric Train said at around 1:41 p.m., five of the suspects entered the bank, located along Amorsolo street in Legazpi Village, and announced a heist.

“The three other suspects stayed outside the bank and served as lookout,” he said.

Train said the suspects took the money handled by the bank cashiers and then fled after two or three minutes.

“They (suspects) ordered the employees and clients of the bank to lie face down while they (took) the money from the cashiers at gunpoint. They immediately left the bank, strafed a police patrol car that was parked outside the bank and rode in their getaway vehicle – a gray Suzuki ATV van,” he said.

Train said the policemen in the strafed patrol car gave chase, but lost the robbers when the police vehicle sustained a flat tire.

Police said a passerby, identified only as Gerald, was hit by a stray bullet and was rushed to an undisclosed hospital. — Jose Rodel Clapano