The amount was about to be deposited by the store employees at the PCI-Equitable Bank in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, about 144 kilometers north of this city.
Police investigation showed that the four suspects, two of whom were carrying .45 caliber pistols, flagged down the Pajero vehicle owned by the store at the CL Ledesma Avenue in San Carlos City while on its way to the bank.
At gunpoint, the suspects forcibly took over the vehicle from its driver, Alvin Calvo, and took Gaisano employees Marissa de la Torre and Karen Ang as hostages while fleeing from the scene.
Superintendent Ricardo de la Paz, police chief of San Carlos City, said they responded to the reported robbery-hold-up incident and almost caught up with the fleeing suspects in Calatrava town.
De la Paz said they rescued the two hostages who were released unharmed and left behind by the robbers who fled on foot towards Tabuk Suba in Barangay Buenavista, Calatrava.
De la Paz said the Gaisano management is offering a P100,000 reward for any information that may lead to the arrest of the suspects. — Antonieta Lopez