Van used by Quezon City mall robbers abandoned in Bulacan

MANILA, Philippines - An Asian utility vehicle believed to have been used by the suspects in the armored van robbery at a mall in Quezon City has been abandoned in Bulacan with items believed to have been used by the suspects as well as those taken during the heist.

The gold Toyota Revo was found abandoned at past 6 a.m. yesterday at the parking lot of a vehicle battery manufacturing company in Barangay Patubig, Marilao, just about 50 meters away from the North Luzon Expressway. A security guard at the company informed the Marilao police about the vehicle after bystanders were seen huddling around the Revo yesterday morning.

Superintendent Gerardo Ratuita, head of the Quezon City Police District-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said the Revo could have been the one used by the suspects after abandoning the Ford Expedition (with fake plates WND 331) that they earlier used when they fled the parking area of WalterMart on Edsa near Muñoz Tuesday afternoon.

The Revo contained an empty green duffel bag with the marking of Metrobank, two small green bags and an empty red coin box that were believed to have contained the cash that were collected from stalls at WalterMart and supposed to be transported by the armored van of Mandarin Security Agency when the attack happened.

Also found inside the vehicle were several receipts including one that detailed a breakdown of cash amounting to P27,000, a jacket, a flashlight, a hand radio, and a gun holster.

Ratuita said that based on the number of the empty bags recovered yesterday, they could say that the suspects were not able to take much from the robbery incident.

“It was not a profitable operation since they (suspects) certainly took time planning this and doing a surveillance of the target and they only got a little amount,” Ratuita told reporters in an interview.

The Revo recovered yesterday morning did not have license plates, but Ratuita said their police counterparts in Marilao were able to verify the ownership of the vehicle through its chassis number and trace its original owner.

Ratuita said they would be verifying if the vehicle had been forcibly taken or stolen from the original owner to determine how it ended in the hands of the suspects involved in the WalterMart heist.

The armed men, numbering from 10 to 15, used the Expedition that was later found abandoned at the corner of Narig and Manggachapoy Streets in Barangay Veterans Village. From there, the suspects were seen transferring into the Revo.

Police later found bottles containing urine inside the Expedition, which according to Ratuita, showed that the suspects had conducted a stake out for several hours before staging the heist.

Ratuita said there were at least five persons injured during the incident and were identified by Ratuita as armored van guard Waldo Guimban, mall guard Rolan Angeles, grocery bagger John Castre, and sisters Michelle and Rachelle Armasa.

Police said that Guimban with fellow guard Rolly Vic Temporada were escorting moving teller Jason Arienda to the van, with the teller pushing a cart loaded with bags of cash collected from stores at the mall. As they were loading the cash, a burst of gunfire caused the three bank personnel to scamper to different directions. The armored van guards and those of the mall were able to retaliate and fired at the suspects, who boarded the Expedition to escape.

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego said that based on intelligence information, those involved in the armored van robbery were from Ampang-Colangco, Osamiz, and Alvin Flores gangs.