Julius Yarcia said he talked to the investigators, the bank and the mall management before visiting Police Regional Office-7 headquarters for a press conference where he announced the reward.
"The business sector must help the police put an end to robberies or robbers will put an end to business," Yarcia, a former police general, said.
A classmate of former PRO-7 director Eduardo Gador Jr., Yarcia, who also retired from police service last month, is now based in Manila working with a foreign company that has trade interests in Cebu City.
Yarcia said that the reward will not come from his own pocket alone but his friends and associates who helped raise the amount. He also told investigators to include his employees in the investigation.
Meanwhile, PRO-7 director Chief Supt. Silverio Alarcio Jr. noted that there are significant similarities to the robberies staged in Talisay and the recent one in Mango Square.
One of the findings of police operatives indicates that only a small number of individuals committed bigtime robberies, so that only few might be responsible for big robbery cases in the region.
"We are optimistic, in turn, meant that if these rogues are incarcerated, the result will be a huge decline in the number of robberies in the region," Alarcio said. - Gregg M. Rubio