5 suspects in QC bank robbery fall

MANILA, Philippines — Five members of a robbery group tagged by police as the “Termite Gang” were arrested on Tuesday night after they robbed a Chinabank branch in Quezon City last week.

Nabbed were Jordan Duldulao, 29; Malebert Bautista, 26; Allyson Aligan, 23; Gearldine Bawas, 25, and Ambrose Rex Layao, 28.

Aligan, Duldulao and Bawas admitted that they served as lookouts during the heist.

Police said the suspects managed to enter the bank at the corner of Camaro street and Commonwealth Avenue in Barangay Greater Fairview by digging a tunnel from the drainage canals outside the bank.

Probers said they received information that the suspects were casing another bank along Barangay E. Rodriguez prior to their arrest at around 7:30 p.m.

A witness saw the suspects measuring the distance between the gutter and the target bank, police said.

Policemen apprehended the suspects after Aligan was seen pulling out a handgun tucked in his waist.

Authorities said they recovered a 9mm pistol, a .38-caliber revolver and a grenade from the suspects.

Chief Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar, director of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), said they were hunting down at least 10 more suspects in the robbery.

Eleazar did not rule out the possibility of an inside job.

He admitted that there were security lapses on the part of the bank since one of its alarms was shut off prior to the robbery.

Senior Inspector Allan de la Cruz, head of the QCPD theft and robbery section, said they confiscated a Mitsubishi Montero (AHN-858), one of the four vehicles allegedly used in the heist.

The suspects led police to their hideout in San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, which is allegedly owned by Senior Police Officer 1 Irene Lom-as of the Special Action Force.

The bank management has yet to disclose how much cash and valuables were stolen, but police said the robbers looted the main vault and around 40 safety deposit boxes.

The robbers dug a tunnel from the drainage canals to gain entry into the bank, before disabling the alarm and the bank’s surveillance camera.

The main vault of the bank and 66 safety deposit boxes were destroyed by the suspects, police said.

Police said the group was also involved in robberies in Marikina, Cavite and Tarlac.