Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., Marikina City police chief, said the theft was discovered by the bank manager when he reported to work at 7:35 a.m. at the Marikina Valley Rural Bank along J.P. Rizal Avenue in Barangay Nangka.
Rojas said the thieves first bore a hole beside an adjacent establishment leading to the back of the bank then made their way to the bank, carrying their equipment.
They then proceeded to the safety vault and destroyed it using an acetylene torch.
Rojas said that aside from the money inside the vault, the thieves also took 12 shotguns belonging to bank guards. Police said the suspects might have rented the house beside the bank which only has a wall to separate them.
"This is a modus operand is used by gangs to rob pawnshops in the past. They apparently know how effective it has been so they employed it to rob a bank," a police investigator said.
Police said the robbers broke in during the night and worked until dawn.
— Non Alquitran