Police are now hunting down security guard Benboy Peñaloga, of the Commodore Security Agency, and his cohorts in the heist of the bank located along Sumulong Highway in Barangay Sto. Niño.
Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., Marikina City police chief, said Peñaloga was a night-shift security of the bank, which is some 100 meters away from the local police headquarters.
Before the bank opened, Peñaloga let his cohorts inside and then waited for the arrival of bank employees and the day-shift security guards.
When bank manager Alfonso Marania, two female bank tellers and the other guards reported for work, Peñaloga opened the door for them.
When eight employees and guards were inside the bank, Peñaloga pointed his issued firearm at them and herded them into one corner of the bank while his companions, blindfolded and hog-tied them. The employees and guards were then ordered them to lie face down on the floor.
At gunpoint, Peñaloga demanded the keys from Marania and opened the vault. "The security guard (Peñaloga) apparently knew about the time delay lock of the vault," a police official said.
Rojas said the robbery was discovered when a female bank employee, Sherrylyn Losana, reported for work at 8 a.m.
Before entering the bank, she peeped through the glass door and saw her co-workers hog-tied and lying on the floor.
She immediately reported the incident to the police.
The robbers emptied the bank’s vault in less than five minutes before boarding a maroon Isuzu Trooper and sped away toward Quezon City.
Responding policemen missed the robbers by a few minutes.
Police invited for questioning the three security guards of the bank for the description of the robbers.
Rojas said they will also ask management of the Commodore Security Agency, which provides the bank with security personnel to help them in the effort to locate and capture Peñaloga and his cohorts.
Chief Superintendent Oscar Valenzuela, director of the Eastern Police District (EPD), said that Peñaloga was the mastermind of the robbery. "We are still determining the exact amount the bank lost to the robbers because management refused to issue a statement regarding the robbery," said Valenzuela.
Valenzuela dispatched three crack police teams to conduct manhunt operations against Peñaloga and his companions.