Robbers take P.5 M in Pasig mall heist

Manila, Philippines -  Five men shot two security guards who tried to stop them from robbing a bank of P500,000 at the Robinson’s Metro East mall in Pasig City yesterday.

Eastern Police District (EPD) director Chief Superintendent Miguel Laurel said three of the robbers entered the mall where the Robinson’s Bank was located while two others drove getaway vehicles.

The 10-minute robbery was caught by the mall’s closed-circuit television cameras but the faces of the robbers were “blurred,” Laurel said in an interview.

“The suspects were seen running out of the bank while carrying a bag containing their loot. But the resolution of the video footage is not good enough,” he said.

The EPD director admitted they have no evidence as yet linking the robbers to a heist at a moneychanger’s shop in Robinson’s Galleria in Quezon City last March, wherein one person was killed and six others were wounded.

A male bank teller was about to deliver the money to an armored van parked outside the mall when the three robbers struck at about 11 a.m.

Laurel said one of the two security escorts of the teller, Edwin Nartea, tried to put up a fight but was shot in the left leg and left shoulder. At gunpoint, one of the robbers grabbed the bag containing the money from Nartea before rushing outside.

Security guard Lotildes Domingo, who was manning a grocery, tried to reach for his service firearm upon seeing the fleeing robbers, but he too was shot in the arms.

Laurel said the three robbers boarded a waiting white Hyundai car (PWN-834) and proceeded to Midtown street in Barangay San Roque, Marikina City where a gray Mitsubishi Adventure was waiting for them.

There were many shoppers at the mall when the robbers struck, said acting Pasig City police chief Superintendent Alfredo Calamaan.

“When we heard gunfire, we ran for cover, thinking that there was a hostage situation going on,” one of the shoppers said in a radio interview. Other shoppers rushed out of the bank.

EPD intelligence chief Superintendent Remus Medina said the mall’s operation was not affected despite the large number of policemen at the scene following the robbery.

“The mall’s operation is normal, except for the presence of uniformed policemen inside the establishment,” said Medina in an interview.

Laurel said they are preparing a sketch of the robbers for comparison with images of bank robbers stored in the police rogues’ gallery.