2 Southmall bank robbers identified

The Las Piñas City police have identified two of the 10 men who robbed an armored van of a Banco de Oro branch last Monday, saying both had previously been involved in robbery cases.

Superintendent Perpetuo Sanson, Las Piñas police chief, said guards of the SM Southmall last Monday evening picked out two of the suspects from the a rogue’s gallery.

Sanson, however, refused to reveal the identities of the suspects so as not to affect their follow-up operations.

"The suspects were involved in previous robbery holdup cases," he said. One officer said the identified suspects could be members of either the Waray Waray Group or Ilonggo Group.

Police are now looking at the possibility that the group responsible for the armored van robbery at SM Southmall at 12:30 p.m. last Monday was the same group that hit an armored van of Banco de Oro at SM City Annex last April.

"Apart from the bank that was hit, there is strong suspicion that it was done by the same group because of the similar manner by which it was pulled off. In both heists, the suspects hit the armored vans using M-16 rifles, caliber .45 caliber and 9mm pistols," Sanson said.

He added: "We had policemen visiting establishments around Southmall to ask if there were any bystanders who could give an accurate description of the other suspects and to gather any other valuable information."

A police team was also dispatched to trace the owner of a green Mitsubishi L-300 (PTK-514) which was used as a getaway vehicle. It was found abandoned at St. Joseph Subdivision.

"It was originally owned by a female lawyer, but it was passed on to other owners. The vehicle was sold and transferred several times," Sanson said, noting that a verification at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) showed that there has been no alarm sent out for the vehicle, that it was never reported stolen.

Five security guards and bank escorts were wounded when 10 armed men fired shots at them before taking two bags of cash from Banco de Oro.

Chief Superintendent Prospero Noble Jr., Southern Police District (SPD) director, said he had instructed his seven station commanders to inspect the security routine of shopping malls.

The SPD is made up of the cities of Pasay, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas and Makati and the municipalities of Taguig and Pateros.

Superintendent Ronald Estilles, Parañaque City police chief, pointed out that 80 percent of mall security is the responsibility of its guards.

"We only maintain at least two to three policemen per shopping center.

In his area, there are seven shopping malls, including SM Sucat and SM Bicutan. There are Banco de Oro branches in both," Estilles said. "The key is to maintain good communication and coordination with mall security officials."