Guard dies in Misamis Oriental robbery

A SECURITY guard died while another is in critical condition after they were shot when six armed men robbed a dressing plant in Barangay Mohon, Tagoloan town in Misamis Oriental Friday dawn.

Richard Abao, 26, died around 9:30 a.m. Friday at the Capitol University Medical City (CUMC) in Cagayan de Oro from gunshot wounds in his head, while Espiridion Balaod, 60, is now under treatment due to gunshot wounds in his stomach.

Senior Police Officer 2 Ritchie Raiz of Tagoloan Police Station said four of the six suspected robbers armed with caliber .45 pistol, .38 and 9mm pistol pretended to be buyers of dressed chicken and entered AnakCiano Inc. (ACI) Dressing Plant.

Thinking that they were real customers, the plant’s security guards allowed the robbers to enter inside the dressing plant, Raiz said.

Raiz said the two suspects served as lookouts and stayed outside the plant.

Police Senior Inspector Ereneo Ramirez said the suspects entered through the plant’s two gates and pointed their guns at the two security guards.

Initial investigation showed that Abao and Balaod attempted to fight back but were instead shot by the suspects.

The suspects later proceeded to the cashier’s booth, and at gunpoint, carted away some P133,000 cash and a laptop from the cashier identified as Estrella Dayao.

Police said the suspects also took the service shotgun of one of the security guards and later fled on board two motorcycles.

Employees inside the dressing plant reportedly witnessed the incident but went into hiding out of fear.

Engr. Rey Baylin, operations manager of ACI Dressing Plant, said it was the first time that such incident happened inside the plant.

Baylin said the plant has a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera but is not functioning for more than a month now after it was affected by the renovation made inside the plant.

He said their clients, especially distributors of dressed chicken, would normally buy their products in the evening or early dawn.

He added that customers are allowed to enter inside the compound after being “interviewed” by the security guards assigned.

During the incident, Baylin said there were four security guards who were on duty -- two were assigned at the entrance gate while the other two were at the exit gate.

Ramirez said the robbery is carefully planned, which was reportedly carried out in about three minutes.

Due to the incident, he said they will make some “improvement in checking the identities” of their clients for security purposes.

The plant’s cashier was reportedly brought to the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory for the facial description of the suspects.

Ramirez said they now have a lead on the identities of the suspects but he refused to provide further details. (Annabelle L. Ricalde/Stephanie Berganio)