Burglars botch Valenzuela bank heist

MANILA, Philippines - Unidentified burglars succeeded in destroying the padlocks at the main door of a bank in Valenzuela City at past midnight Wednesday but failed to take anything.

Police Officer 3 Richard Bautista said at around 8:09 a.m. security guard Rene Robles found that the two padlocks securing the accordion-type steel shutters at the Planters Bank branch along MacArthur Highway destroyed.

Bank representative Emmanuel Triunfante, however, said the surveillance camera failed to capture the attempted break-in. Sources said the camera did not cover the bank’s outer perimeter.

Bautista added that midwife Liza Jimenez, who was on duty at the Hernandez Maternity and Lying-In Clinic beside the bank “heard noises outside (the clinic at around 1 a.m.) but ignored them.”   

Police said the incident is under investigation. – Jerry Botial