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Thursday, December 14, 2006
Bank robbed; cops skeptical
By Aledel Gonzalez-Cuizon
CEBU CITY -- Two robbers fled with more than P300,000 in cash from the Bank of Ormoc in Barangay Guizo, Mandaue City Wednesday afternoon.
The bank had no guard, making it easy for the robber who was brandishing a gun to force the employees to give up the key to the vault and take their personal money. There was also no security alarm.
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The culprits arrived past 3 p.m. on a motorcycle after the bank closed. The employees let one of them in even if it was already past banking hours.
Mandaue City Police Office Director Alexander Abadinas said that while one stayed outside, the other went in and asked how he could open an account.
He was given a list of requirements and said he will come back.
The man came back, but this time he announced a robbery.
Bookkeeper Chyrell Merin, loan clerk Ray-mond Alburo, teller Lolita Alindaw, report clerk Henry Brillante, and consultant Florence Alesna were inside the bank when the robbery took place.
Inspector Abraham Ocampo of Police Station 1 said the robbers and the employees argued before the vault was opened.
One robber said he will shoot one of the employees if they did not give up the key to the vault.
Alburo eventually opened the vault, where most of the cash was kept.
But Abadinas doubts there was a robbery.
In an interview, Abadinas told Sun.Star Cebu that there were many factors that can cast doubts on what actually happened.
Abadinas asked why the bank still allowed the men in even if it was already past banking hours.
And in this age of cell phones and text messages, the employees could have easily called up their friends for help.
Abadinas also said that in his 26 years in the service, he has never encountered a bank robbery wherein an accurate amount of the cash taken was immediately reported.
He said it usually takes time before the shocked victims are able to report the exact amount lost.
But when he arrived at the bank Wednesday afternoon, he was immediately told that the robbers took P297,101.13. The figure later changed when the press arrived, Abadinas said.
"Why could they give such an accurate figure to the last centavo? Did the robbers sign a withdrawal slip?" Abadinas said.
Information from the bank said that about P308,338.63 was taken, Abadinas said. A spot report he received Wednesday night placed the amount at P319,818.63.
He said none of the employees were able to explain why the bank didn't hire a security guard.
Nevertheless, Abadinas said a thorough investigation on the case must be done to determine what really transpired.
The incident happened a month and a half after the branch of the Visayan Electric Co. along M. C. Briones Highway was robbed last October 31.
In that robbery, a woman knocked on the door and asked that she be allowed to make a payment because her electricity would be cut off.
As the door was slightly opened, three men forced their way in and took some P1.75 million.
The case is still not solved.
In Wednesday's incident, a hot pursuit yielded nothing, Ocampo said.
The police arrived around at 3:45 p.m. Ocampo said it took a while before the employees called for help.
The bank's telephone line was cut and the employees had to reconnect it before making a call. However, they called their boss first.
Ocampo said the building where the bank holds office has security cameras.
He said that at least four angles of the main entrance were taken by the cameras but no footage was recorded.
Ocampo said there used to be at least two policemen under the field training program assigned to the vicinity of the bank.
But the policemen had been pulled out following the postponement of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
The policemen were supposed to serve as additional security for the summit.
In a radio dyLA interview, Police Regional Office 7 Director Silverio Alarcio Jr. said blaming the incident on the pullout of the policemen "should not be the line of reasoning."
He said these policemen will have to leave eventually and the local police can operate without them. (Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (December 14, 2006 issue)
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