Robbers wore police uniforms: One killed, P1 M taken in pre-dawn rob

Robbers wearing police uniforms carted away an estimated one million pesos in cash and killed one security guard in a robbery at past midnight yesterday in Basak San Nicolas.

Five men wearing what the police call as their General Office Attire (GOA) uniform went to the compound of Dranix Distributors ALONG Tagunol St. and told one of the two guards on duty that they were from the Supervisory Office for Security and Investigative Agency (SOCIA) and were there to do an inspection.

Guard on duty Edgardo Embolde, Sr., who was at the gate then summoned the other security guard in the area, Edgardo Tabigui to head to the gate as the latter was doing his routine patrol.

Tabigui said that while he was heading towards the gate, Embolde shouted to him that the policemen were from the SOCIA and were there to do an inspection.

Tabigui was however surprised when the "policemen" pulled out guns and pointed them at the security guards then ordered him to get inside the guardhouse.

He said that the next thing he heard were two gun shots and when he managed to peek, he saw Embolde, 32 years old of Tamatas, San Fernando, already slumped face down on the ground.

Tabigui, who is also 32 years old and a native of Tuburan, Bien Unido, Bohol and temporarily residing in barangay Cogon-Pardo, said that he was then dragged to the administration office where he was hogtied using packaging tape. The robbers reportedly took keys from the guardhouse to open the office.

He told police that the next thing he saw was that the robbers brought in two tanks and started to cutting the metal vault where the money was kept.

After doing their deed, the robbers fled the area on board a grey Toyota Light Ace van, which Tabigui saw when he was summoned to the gate.

The loot was estimated to be between P500,000 to P1 million.

Task Force Formed

Cebu City Police Office director, Sr.Supt. Patrociño Comendador immediately formed as task force composed of men from the Theft and Robbery Section, the Homicide Section, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Branch, and the Vice Control Section.

The police staged a reenactment of the incident and Tabigui demonstrated how he managed to seek help by rolling outside of the office.

He said that he managed to shout for help, because he was not gagged.

Comendador said that the suspects might not be "local boys," but he believes that the information about the money must have come from "insiders."

"Dunay posibilidad nga di na siya local group pero ang impormasyon diha gyud gikan sa sulod,duna gyuy local contact nga knows about diha sa sulod especially sa flow sa kwarta...robbery gud as much as possible maglikay gyud na sila nga makapatay unless nalang kung nakaila nila o ba kaha nisukol," Comendador told The Freeman.

Sr. Inspector Alexis Relado, chief of the TRS and the head of the task force, told The Freeman that they are now looking into the possibility of involvement of some employees citing coincidential circumstances. He said that he is puzzled on how the robbers knew about the money. The said money should have been deposited already in a bank last Friday. Another puzzling coincidence is, how did the robbers know that there is a metal vault that needed to be cut using a blow torch how easily them seem to have duped the guards so that they could get inside the gate. An acetylene tank and a liquefied petroleum gas tank connected to a torch were left behind the crime scene. The police also found two empty shells of a still undetermined ammunition. Tabigui, who is now under the custody of the TRS is however considered also as "principal suspect by indispensable cooperation," according to Relado. Relado added that they would be inviting the management and employees of the said company for questioning to help the investigation. He said all employees are considered suspects. Tabigui was also taken to the PNP Crime Laboratory for a paraffin test to determine if he fired a gun and was later brought to the National Bureau of Investigation-7 office to undergo a lie detector test. Inspector Mario Monilar, chief of the Homicide Section, told reporters that there were times that Tabigui's statements were inconsistent prompting him to request the polygraph test. He however said that there is nothing concrete yet as of the press time. Comendador brushed aside the possibility that the robbers are members of the PNP and were just using the SOCIA, which is the old name of the Firearms, Explosives Security Agency Guards Supervision (FESAGS). -(/NLQ)