9 Bank Employees Killed Philippines

[LaoPo]

9 dead in Laguna bank robbery

By Thea Alberto

INQUIRER.net

First Posted 10:38:00 05/16/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- At least nine people were confirmed dead and one in critical condition in a bank robbery in Laguna province, a police official said.

Chief Superintendent Ricardo Padilla, Calabarzon police director, said seven of the casualties, who were found inside the bank, were identified as employees of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) while another was a client. The ninth victim, a security guard on duty, was found outside, he said.

All of them were shot in the head. Two of them were seen near the vault, said Padilla.

Padilla said two security guards were missing, leading authorities to suspect that they were involved in the robbery.

Padilla identified the fatalities as Roberto Castro, bank manager; Ma. Theresa Umayam, teller; Olga Gonzales, new accounts teller; Benjamin Lidao, junior teller; Bernardo Lapaan, customer's cashier; Noel Miranda, operational assistant; Juan Layva, janitor; Ferdinand Antonio, a client; and Aguilando Baltazar, security guard.

Recovered from the crime scene were spent shells from a .38 revolver, 9-millimeter, and .45 caliber pistols, said Padilla.

Padilla said the murders were discovered when RCBC clients alerted police on why the bank was not opened at the usual time of 9 a.m. It was also possible that the victims knew the robbers since they all had to be killed inside the bank, he added.

"This is not the handiwork of humans. This was perpetrated by animals," Padilla said on local television.

Initial investigation showed that the robbers were able to cart away a still undetermined amount of money because the bank vault was open, he said.

"Definitely may nawawala [something is missing], bukas yung vault ang ibang pera nakakalat pa [the vault is open and some cash are littered on the floor]," said Padilla.

Meanwhile, police recovered a white Toyota Revo with no plate number in Turbina, Calamba City which belonged to one of the slain bank employees. Padilla said the robbers used it as a getaway vehicle.

A task group was also created for the immediate capture of the suspects, he added.

Police have erected roadblocks in the region and the identities of certain motorists are being checked, said Philippine National Police spokesman Nicanor Bartolome.

Meanwhile, an official of RCBC said on radio that they would wait for the results of the police investigation but assured families of the victims of assistance.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/...na-bank-robbery

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

Nine dead in Philippines bank robbery: police

May 16; 1 hour ago:

MANILA (AFP) — Nine people were found dead in a bank outside the Philippines capital on Friday in an apparent armed robbery, police said.

Bank clients alerted police when they found a bloodied body at the door of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. branch in Cabuyao, south of Manila.

Police found nine bodies inside the bank, while the bank manager was in critical condition at a nearby hospital with a gunshot wound to the head, national police spokesman Nicanor Bartolome said in a statement.

Two of the dead were women who have not been identified, he added.

Police later recovered an abandoned vehicle at a nearby area which they believe the suspects used to escape, Chief Superintendent Bartolome said.

The crime took place at a light industrial park and the bank branch serves export-oriented electronics manufacturers.

Police believe the bank was attacked by robbers, possibly working with insiders, who fled its usual opening time of 9:00am (0100 GMT). It was not immediately known if any money was stolen.

"This is not the handiwork of humans. This was perpetrated by animals," regional police chief Ricardo Padilla told ABS-CBN television.

Padilla said investigators were looking for two missing bank security guards who he said could have been involved in the attack.

Police have erected roadblocks in the region and the identities of certain motorists are being checked, Bartolome said.

AFP

LaoPo

""They were murdered in gangland-style, each one shot in the head," he said."

From:

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/i...N23695920080516

LaoPo

[ai kwaan]

so, what else is new in the PI?

RIP to the victims

[jonniebkk]

Unfortunately very true this is all too common in the Phils. Don't recall ever hearing about a similar incident in LOS. There was an bank robbery (blamed on a foreigner of all people) many years ago in Pattaya where I believe 1 guard was shot and killed. However, in contrast to the Philippines, the bank security in LOS aren't even armed.

[Palace]

actually, this is something "new" in RP.

there have been bloody bank robberies in the past but only because the guards tried to fight back, or some customers/employees got hit in the crossfire or at worst, guards were neutralized at the outset to mitigate risk of resistance.

but this is the first time something like this happened ever in philippine soil. the 10 people were killed execution-style, with a bullet in the head at point blank range.

this must be the work of a psycho group. something the world all over is not lacking of.

[Shotime]

Sounds like the work of terrorists.

[ai kwaan]

from what i read, sounds like the handiwork of hardened renegade soldiers and/or dirty cops

PI is this region's Somalia and Sudan, a powder keg, ready to explode!