Convent worker tagged in heist

MANILA, Philippines - An employee of a convent in Quezon City is now suspected of conniving with robbers during a Holy Tuesday heist, officials said yesterday.

Driver Efren Padilla went home to Pangasinan on March 27 after he left the Convent of the Holy Spirit  in Barangay Immaculate Conception a day after the heist, said Quezon City Police District director Senior Superintendent Richard Albano.

Inspector Alan dela Cruz said Padilla was told he would undergo a lie detector test, but left the convent on the night of March 27, allegedly to go home to Pangasinan.

Dela Cruz said another employee claimed seeing the driver talking with a man after the afternoon heist. He said the man turned out to be one of the five armed robbers. They will file charges against Padilla based on circumstantial evidence, he said.

The convent lost P417,934.43 in payroll money, petty cash and foreign currencies, and two cell phones of the accounting staff.

The nuns and other employees recalled seeing Padilla outside the convent prior to the heist, as if waiting for someone. Five men and a woman were seen walking in his direction. He was also seen talking to someone on his phone.

When shown a computer-generated image of one of the robbers, based on the description provided by a nun, an employee identified him as the man he was with Padilla.

Padilla told police he was outside the convent looking for a therapist to massage his swollen foot.