Gunmen pull off another daring robbery

MANILA, Philippines - A criminal gang struck anew in Metro Manila, carrying out a daring broad daylight heist at a money transfer shop in Parañaque City, before noon Tuesday.

Reports said that a group of six gunmen on board separate motorcycles hit a Western Union branch at the corner of Dr. A. Santos and Lopez avenues in Sucat.

Senior Superintendent Billy Beltran, Parañaque police chief, said pursuit operations against the robbers were ongoing as of this posting.

Police said that the robbers, armed with high-powered firearms including automatic rifles, took P60,000 from the money transfer shop.

The heist came a day after a lone gunman shot and killed a Chinese-Filipino construction firm owner in San Juan City.

Kelvin Tan, who owned construction firm KT Builders, withdrew P800,000 from a bank along Ortigas Avenue in Greenhills and handed the money to a bodyguard of Benedict Tan, reportedly his best friend, who was waiting at a nearby coffee shop before he was shot dead by a lone gunman after boarding his vehicle parked beside the bank.

Police said that the motive behind the killing could be related to the victim's business.

On Saturday night, gunmen also carried out a daring heist inside SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. The robbers escaped with an undetermined number of jewelry from a store at the mall's upper ground floor.

The incidents happened amid the Philippine National Police's random checkpoints around Metro Manila and its supposed strict implementation of the election gun ban.