Gas station loses P1.8 M to robbers

Taking advantage of the police deployment in Mendiola and the bad weather brought by Typhoon Glenda, five armed men robbed a gasoline station and escaped with a loot of P1.8 million the other day in Ermita, Manila.

The loot, consisting of the three-day earnings of Petron branches in San Marcelino and Pedro Gil, was intended for deposit when the robbers struck.

A Petron-Pedro Gil employee told police the five men, armed with short firearms, struck at around 7:45 a.m. as the delivery van coming from the San Marcelino branch arrived to collect the other branch’s earnings.

"The robbers moved with precision. They seemed to have studied the schedule of collection and knew where the money was placed," officer-on-case PO3 Genaro Tan said.

Witnesses said shortly before the robbery they had noticed two red motorcycles parked near the gas station along Taft Avenue. The suspects escaped using those vehicles. – Nestor Etolle