Government bares new robbery style

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

MANILA (Updated) -- Pawnshop owners on Tuesday sought better security within their business outlets after they discovered a new strategy being used by syndicates in robbing jewelry shops, pawnshops, and banks.

According to Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, the Chamber of Pawnbrokers of the Philippines (CPPI) reported that these robbers operate at night, especially during long weekends.

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The robbers start by disconnecting the alarm systems and security cameras of the target establishments and later drill through the adjoining walls as entry points through the use of advanced equipment, Robredo said.

They will then forcibly open the vault with portable acetylene torches and cart away valuable materials such as cash and jewelry items, he added.

On the other hand, some syndicates resort to forcible entry, underground tunneling or passing through big drainage systems along the street fronting the target establishment.

“In this case, they open the floor of the vault of the pawnshop as entry point, forcibly open the vault and take away all the valuable items in the vault,” Robredo said.

As a result, Robredo called on local and police officials to be on alert when individuals rent out vacant business space at the side of, or on top, or at the back of an existing pawnshop, bank, or jewelry shop.

He also asked barangay officials to immediately mobilize on a regular basis their barangay tanods for rounds, especially during night time and wee hours of the day.

If and when the barangay tanods discover suspicious movements of people near pawnshops and banks, Robredo said they should coordinate with the local police so that it can undertake surveillance and make the necessary arrests.

The Local Government chief also urged barangays to widen public awareness and support for the prevention of such incidents in their areas.

The number of registered pawnshops has grown to 15,596 as of December 31, 2010, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) show.

Meanwhile, criminals found to have participated in a bank robbery may soon be unable to post bail because they will be sentenced to life imprisonment.

That is, if Misamis Occidental Representative Loreto Leo Ocampos had his way.

Campos recently filed House Bill 3914 increasing the prison sentence of bank robbers to life imprisonment regardless of the amount of money involved.

To be known as the Bank Robbery Act of 2010, the bill seeks to amend Republic Act 3815 or the Revised Penal Code.

"The crime claims the lives of innocent people in several incidents because a bank robbery is often done with violence, where its every act is committed at gunpoint," he said.

The lawmaker cited the 2008 bank robbery at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation branch in Cabuyao, Laguna where 10 people died as robbers fled with P9-million loot.

Life imprisonment will also be slapped against criminal elements involved in robbing vehicles of banks or financial institutions.

PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. declined to comment with regard to the proposed measure as of this posting.(Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)