Bank robbers strike in Muntinlupa; 2 hurt

A bank security guard and a civilian were seriously hurt when 11 armed men robbed a Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) branch in Muntinlupa City yesterday.

Security guard Dionisio Upano sustained a bullet wound in the stomach. Ulpano and Emil Marquez, the civilian, were taken to the Alabang Medical Center.

"The bullet wound affected the blood vessels on Marquez’s right lung and he was also grazed on the right side of his head," Dr. Jaime Duran said.

The 23-year-old civilian is a resident of Barangay Putatan, Muntinlupa City.

Chief Superintendent Prospero Nobe Jr., Southern Police District (SPD) director, said it took the suspects just eight minutes to get away with some P300,000 to P500,000 in cash.

Noble said the incident took place at around 12:45 p.m. yesterday.

"The suspects were very patient and waited until there was only one security guard on duty at the RCBC branch as another took his lunch break," Noble said.

Two suspects entered the bank saying they would be withdrawing cash from their automated teller machine (ATM) account.

Since the ATM door was closed, they used the bank’s main door.

Seconds later, as another pair of suspects were about to enter the bank, the first two suspects ran to the side of the on duty security guard and disarmed him of his caliber .38 pistol and announced a bank heist.

The four were armed with short firearms. Their cohorts, numbering about seven, served as lookouts. They were wearing bonnets and carrying M-16 and M-14 rifles .

The suspects, however, did not anticipate the arrival of the bank’s armored van which was just making a U-turn when the group entered the bank.

" When the van’s driver and two security escorts saw the suspects coming out of the bank, they immediately opened fire at the robbers. The bank’s glass door was shot five times.

The guards continued shooting at the suspect’s getaway vehicle — a green Kia Besta Van (XBH-781) and two other vehicles. The van was later found abandoned along Commerce Avenue in Ayala-Alabang.