Saturday, December 23, 2006 Panic among workers, robbers stops heist
PANIC foiled a plan to rob a lending company in Mandaue City yesterday noon. When the employees panicked after realizing they were being held up, the robbers panicked too.
The attempted robbery came a week after two men ran away with over P300,000 cash from the Bank of Ormoc in Barangay Guizo. That robbery happened after banking hours.
Like the bank, the lending firm also had no security guard or alarm system.
Two unidentified men arrived at Sto. Niño de Cebu Finance Corp. in Barangay Subangdaku yesterday noon. While one stood at the door, the other approached processing in-charge Marilou Cabahug, put down his backpack and pretended to look for something inside.
He suddenly pulled out a .45 pistol with a silencer, which he aimed at Cabahug as he announced the robbery.
Cabahug and the other employees panicked.
According to Subangdaku Police Station Chief Eduardo Castañeda, Cabahug managed to stand up and run toward the interior part of the office, even if a gun was aimed at her.
But instead of keeping their cool, the robbers panicked too and headed for the door.
They had to ask the employees to open the door using the push-button lock system.
The suspects, who did not cover their faces during the attempt, fled on board a motorcycle.
Castañeda said that even if the robbers managed to rob the lending firm, they wouldn’t have run away with a huge amount of cash since the establishment handled mostly checks. (AAG)
