5 guards nabbed for P1-M Binondo heist

MANILA, Philippines - Five security guards were arrested Thursday for allegedly robbing a clerk who had just withdrawn P1 million from a bank in Binondo, Manila.

Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rongavilla identified the suspects as Jerry Muldes, 30; Elmer Amosco, 20; Rexer Pomaregos, 28; Ronnel Desolong, 25, all of Centennial Security Agency; and Noel Germino, 36, of Safeguard Security Agency.

Rongavilla said Muldes and Amosco were arrested by patrolling policemen after they pistol-whipped and robbed Gina Lamanilao, 44, a clerk of JRS Management Center. The victim managed to scream for help, attracting the attention of the lawmen. The money was recovered intact.

Muldes told The STAR he implicated his colleagues Pomaregos and Desolong out of fear during a police tactical interrogation. He said it was a certain Joel Par, a dismissed employee of JRS Management Center, who contacted him and Amosco for the robbery.

He said he knew Par was in the vicinity, giving him instructions through a cell phone, at the time of the robbery.