Robbers kill guard, helper in Navotas heist

Police are hunting down at least four unidentified robbers who killed a fishing company’s security guard and its stay-in helper during a midnight robbery yesterday in the coastal city of Navotas.

Navotas police chief Superintendent Erick Reyes identified the fatalities as Noel Angeles, a guard of the Sibol Security Agency, and Nilo Castillano, stay-in utility helper of the fishing firm St. Joseph Group Inc.

Richard Bagasmad, 25, a stay-in driver of the company, told police that he found the two victims already dead with multiple bodily stab wounds near the guard post at the ground floor at around midnight.

Bagasmad immediately called the police for assistance.

According to Senior Inspector Bernabe Irinco Jr., Navotas police station staff duty officer, 54-year-old vendor Arilla Saranza saw at least four unidentified men running away from the fishing firm’s office a few minutes past midnight.

Irinco said the suspects ransacked the office of Jocelyn Cayao, the company’s assistant manager, on the second floor and took around P70,000 cash and an undetermined amount of checks by destroying the safety vault.

The robbers also scoured the adjacent office of Coney Buan, the fishing firm’s manager, and stole her laptop computer worth more than P70,000.

The suspects also escaped with the slain security guard’s .38 caliber service revolver.

Irinco said that a deeper investigation was still being conducted yesterday as police probers were looking into the possibility of an “inside job” into the case because there was no sign of forcible entry seen on the gate of the company’s office and on its premises.