Guard robs bank in QC

MANILA, Philippines - A security guard robbed a bank he had been guarding and locked up its employees in a room at the back of the bank in Quezon City Friday night.

Chief Inspector Rodelio Marcelo, head of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation Branch, said 12 employees identified Reynante Gante of the Audacious Security Agency as the one who robbed a bank along E. Rodriguez Sr. Boulevard in Barangay Damayang Lagi.

According to a police report, the employees were working late to finish their tasks before closing the bank for the weekend.

Operations assistant Renee Rose Avendano told police Gante had been assigned to the bank since January.

As the employees were about to leave the bank at around 7:30 p.m., Gante declared the heist, apologizing and telling them no one would get hurt as long as they followed his instructions.

He brought 10 employees to a room at the back of the bank, took their mobile phones and bags, then locked them up.

Gante then ordered Avendano and cashier Reynante Yu to open the vault. He took Avendano’s cell phone and ordered Yu to place the money from the vault into a brown box. Avendano and Yu were locked up along with their co-workers.

One of the employees, Jessie Alacala, only had one of his two mobile phones taken by the suspect and managed to contact the branch manager about the robbery.

The manager and the police eventually arrived at the bank and released the detained employees.