Bank rob takes only 3 minutes

Three minutes was all it took for a group of armed robbers to take about P100,000 in cash from a Bank of the Philippine Island branch in Makati City yesterday.

Makati police chief, Superintendent Jovito Gutierrez, reported that four armed men, two wearing ski masks, staged the heist at the BPI branch on the South Superhighway corner Malvar St. in Barangay Bangkal at around 2:15 p.m.

Two of the four suspects initially entered the bank pretending to be clients after using the automatic teller machine outside the bank.

As soon as the two men had entered, they snatched the .38 caliber pistol of the one of the security guards and announced the hold-up.

Two other men wearing ski masks and armed with M-16 rifles then got off a vehicle and shot the lone security guard standing outside the bank.

Gutierrez identified the security guard as Arnulfo Eliaso who was shot in the left thigh and was rushed to the Makati Medical center for treatment.

After shooting the guard, the two men entered the bank and assisted their two companions in the robbery.

All the clients and bank employees were ordered to lie face down on the floor as the robbers directed the tellers to turn over the cash in their drawers.

Although the exact amount was not yet determined as of press time, Gutierrez disclosed that the cash taken was more or less P100,000.

The robbers did not bother to go into the vaults of the bank where most of the day’s deposits were contained because of the time delay locks.

When the responding policemen, including the Makati police Special Weapons and Tactics team arrived, the robbers had already fled.

Police said the getaway vehicle was a gold-colored Honda Civic sedan with plate number WLS-182. – Marvin Sy