Bank robbers strike in Sucat

Suspects tagged in the robbery of a Union Bank branch on E. Rodriguez Avenue two months ago successfully pulled another heist in the bank’s Sucat, Parañaque City branch yesterday morning, carting away P300,000.

Senior Superintendent Ronald Estilles, chief of the Parañaque City police, said witnesses in the five-minute robbery identified the two suspects as Gerry and Reynaldo Antonio, while a cartographic sketch of a third robber showed him to be of medium build and around 5’4" in height.

Estilles said the two identified suspects were part of the group that pulled off the robbery at Union Bank-E. Rodriguez last July 17. They were eventually arrested but were released after posting bail.

"It seems that after they posted bail for the Quezon City bank job, they decided to hit another bank," he said.

Initial police reports showed that an hour after the bank opened for business at around 10:05 a.m. yesterday, three motorcycle-riding men went to the Rodeo Building at Kilometer 10, West Service Road, South Superhighway, Sucat, where the Union Bank branch is located.

Marcelino Santos, a building security officer belonging to the Regional Security Agency, said one of the suspects approached him carrying a brown envelope.

"I thought he was a job applicant for one of the offices on the upper floors, but he suddenly pulled out a caliber .45 revolver and ordered me to go inside the bank," Santos said. My service revolver was inside one of the drawers and the shotgun was at the back of the building."

The lone security guard of Union Bank, Rogelio Eliseo of Protection Services Inc., said he was just about to look inside the green backpack of one of the suspects, when the man behind him pulled out a caliber .45 pistol.

Bank employees and customers, numbering about 10, were all ordered to lie face down on the floor while the suspects took cash amounting to at least P300,000 from the tellers’ booths.

"They did not get the money inside the vault because it has a time-delay system. It was only after the suspects left that we were able to call the police for assistance," said Union Bank branch manager Arthur Rivera.

In their haste to escape, Estilles said, the suspects left behind the green backpack. However, they were able to place the cash in a separate bag.

"Maybe they thought that they would be able to open the vault so they had an extra bag, but all they got was cash from the tellers," he said.

Police Officer 3 Carlito Nobleza of Parañaque police sub-station 3, said they received reports that the suspects even threw some of the cash during their escape, prompting bystanders to block the road while picking up the bills and preventing pursing policemen from immediately catching up with them.

Police came a few minutes after people from the bank made the call.

The Union Bank heist is the third bank robbery in Parañaque City this year.

Estilles said he ordered the setting up of check- points at the Sucat Exit and Bicutan, where policemen would be checking all motorcycle riders.

The suspects used a motorcycle as their getaway vehicle so they would not be caught in the traffic along the west service road," he said.

Apart from only having one security guard on duty, the bank also has no closed circuit television (CCTV), which could have recorded the heist and help police identify the suspects, Estilles said.