BIR commissioner orders probe on P5-M Manila office robbery

Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Rene Banez has ordered an intensified investigation of the P5 million Christmas bonus robbery at its Manila office last Wednesday.

Banez ordered the bureau’s Special Investigation Division under Bienvenido Rosales to closely coordinate with the Theft and Robbery Section of the Western Police District.

Meanwhile, Banez has requested the Department of Budget and Management for a possible re-allocation of funds to cover the stolen cash intended for the Christmas bonus of employees of the BIR Manila Regional Office.

Police earlier said robbers broke into the Cashiering Unit of the BIR Manila Administrative Division at the sixth floor of the BIR Manila building in Port Area between 5:10 p.m. last Tuesday and 6:30 a.m. the following day.

Investigators from the Theft and Robbery Section of the Western Police District said that the robbery was discovered last Wednesday morning by cashier Alma Quintos, 42, of 18-E Pitimini St., Frisco, Quezon City.

According to investigator Police Officer 3 Gordius Alumbro, initial investigation points to a possible "inside job" as there were no signs of forced entry into the office or the locked steel file cabinet where the cash were kept.

Alumbro theorized that the robbery could have happened between 5:10 p.m. the other day and 6:30 a.m. yesterday.

"According to Quintos, the cash was not kept in the office’s vault as it was reportedly broken, so they decided to lock up the cash in the steel file cabinet," said Alumbro.

Police said the office withdrew P6 million for the employees’ bonuses. Luckily, P1.5 million had been distributed prior to the robbery.

Quintos and her fellow officemates Yolanda Beraña, 50, a computer operator; Sarah Dolina, 35; and Maria Concepcion Malinao, 29, have all been questioned by police.

Investigators said Quintos, Beraña and Dolina all had keys to the office and the filing cabinet where the missing cash had been kept. — Mike Frialde