Robbers make hay over bombing melee

Robbers quickly took advantage of the confusion spawned by the successive bombings in Metro Manila with two robberies in Manila yesterday and Saturday night resulting in injury to one bystander and the carting away of an undetermined amount of loot.

The first robbery occurred at around 10 p.m. at the Tutuban Center Prime Block Mall in Divisoria, just about eight hours after the last of five explosions Saturday which killed two policemen in Makati.

Another robbery was reported at around 1 p.m. yesterday in a mini-grocery in Sta. Cruz, Manila, resulting in the wounding of a pedestrian after the suspects opened fire.

Robbed in Tutuban was the Mercury Drug store at the ground floor of the mall while guards and employees were preparing to close for the day. Tondo police investigators said five men, armed with pistols, barged into the store and immediately disarmed the two guards.

The employees were then ordered to lie face down as the suspects scooped up the cash register’s contents. Other details of the robbery were not immediately available as the investigator on case, Senior Police Officer 4 George Acosta, was not available.

There were reports that the armed men were clad in barong tagalog and that one of them had been arrested by responding policemen.

In the second robbery, two men reportedly stormed the DOI mini-grocery at 2941 Rizal Ave., Sta. Cruz.

Initial reports reaching the Western Police District-Tactical Operations Center showed the holdup occured at about 12:47 p.m. with the suspects escaping on board a motorcycle.

A still unidentified wounded bystander was reportedly taken to the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital after the robbers opened fire.

Both cases are now being followed-up by police.

The robberies came as the entire National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) went on hightened alert in the aftermath of the successive explosions. NCRPO chief Director Edgar Aglipay has ordered tight monitoring of populated areas to prevent a repetition of the bombings. – Jose Aravilla