Lawmaker: P63 M lost to bank heists

Robberies as political fund-raisers or part of a destabilization plot?

Some P63 million has been lost to bank robbers this year, a figure that bolsters already strong suspicions that the incidents are either "fund-raising drives" of corrupt politicians for the 2004 elections or part of destabilization moves against the government, Catanduanes Rep. Joseph Santiago (NPC) said yesterday.

Santiago expressed alarm over the rash of bank heists believed to have been carried out by syndicates led by former soldiers or dismissed police personnel.

He called on the Philippine National Police (PNP) to look into reports that the robberies "may have something to do with the fund-raising drives of politicians with links to crime gangs or may be related to recent attempts to discredit and destabilize the government."

"These are very serious allegations that the authorities cannot just sweep under the rug," Santiago said in a statement.

Citing a PNP report, Santiago said nine of the 26 bank robberies were carried out after the failed July 27 mutiny.

In Dagupan City, a vehicle used by robbers who stole P3.5 million from a Bank of Commerce branch on Aug. 21 reportedly bore an official government license plate. The vehicle was later found abandoned.

One of the boldest heists was that of the Citibank Center in the Makati City commercial and business district on Aug. 25, where 15 heavily armed men figured in a brief firefight with responding lawmen.

Fourteen of the robberies took place in Metro Manila. A bank employee and two security guards were killed in the heists.

Three banks were hit in the first two weeks of this month. The UnionBank of the Philippines lost P300,000 in Parañaque City on Sept. 1; Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Family Bank lost P1.5 million in Bacoor, Cavite on Sept. 11; and Planter’s Development Bank lost P200,000 in Valenzuela City on Sept. 12.

The biggest robberies in terms of loot taken happened in Benguet, Metro Manila and Metro Cebu.

The LandBank of the Philippines lost P15 million to armed robbers, including a former police officer, who ambushed one of its armored cars in Biguias town, Benguet in March.

The Allied Banking Corp. Lost P10 million to robbers in Valenzuela City in June. LandBank lost P10 million in Cebu City in August.