Police identify group behind Greenbelt 5 robbery

Police investigators are now in hot pursuit of the group behind the robbery at a watch store at the high-end Greenbelt 5 Mall in Makati City last Sunday, the Southern Police District chief said Monday. SPD director Chief Superintendent Jaime Calungsod said they have certain leads on the group that staged what was said to be a brazen noon-time heist. "Ongoing po yung investigation at follow-up operations. May na-recover na mga getaway car. Mayroon na tayong sinusundan ngayon (The investigation and follow-up operations are ongoing. We have recovered their getaway car and we are following the trail of a certain group already)," Calungsod said in an interview on GMA’s Unang Hirit. Calungsod, however, did not disclose the group’s name. He only said they were able to identify the group based on its modus operandi in Metro Manila. The police officer likewise said they are still identifying the robber who was killed by the security detail of Taguig Mayor Freddie Tinga, who was dining at the mall with his family at the time of the incident. Asked if the robbers were successful in carting away items from the Rolex store, Calungsod said that “no Rolex watches were stolen." He, however, said that the robbers were able to steal about “P3 to P4 million" worth of Tudor watches. "Wala namang nakuhang mga Rolex. Itong medyo mumurahin lang, mga Tudor watch na nadala. Nabaril yung may dala-dala (ng Rolex), wala pong natangay na Rolex," he said. (No Rolex watches were taken. Only the cheap ones, the Tudor watches, were stolen. The one carrying the Rolex watches was the one who was shot, so no Rolex watches were carted away.)

GMA News’ video shows the body of the slain robber sprawled on the floor with Rolex watches and glass shards surrounding him. ’Bomb squad uniforms’ Calungsod said the suspects – it was not clear whether they were six or eleven – wore black Bomb Squad uniforms with the words “Bitag" imprinted on the front. Because they posed as police officers carrying high-powered firearms, they were able to “overpower" Greenbelt 5 security guards. When the suspects were pounding on the glass cases containing the Rolex watches, they were chanced upon by two of Tinga’s bodyguards: SPO1 Cesar Tiglao and PO1 Efren Ceniza Jr. "Nadaanan po namin, mga naka-uniporme na black na Bomb Squad. Pinukpok nila mga eskaparate so pinaputukan po namin. Kitang kita na pinupuk-pok, nilagay nila sa bag yung mga relo kaya pinutukan po namin agad," Tiglao told GMA News anchor Arnold Clavio in the same interview. (We passed by the area when we saw men wearing black Bomb Squad uniforms. They were hammering the cases, so we fired upon them. We saw them taking the watches inside their bags, so we fired at them immediately.) Realizing that armed men inside the Rolex store were only posing as policemen, Tiglao said he and Ceniza fired upon the robbers for about three to five minutes. The robbers exchanged fire, but Tiglao and his companion had to call for back-ups because their hand-guns ran out of bullets and paled in comparison with the suspects’ M-14 and M-16 rifles. One robber died during the shooting incident while another robber was hurt, according to Calungsod. The other suspects escaped via the mall’s basement parking. Calungsod clarified reports that said it was a bystander who got hurt. "Ang natamaan po ay kasama nila (mga magnanakaw). Isang wounded sa mga hold-upper. Sa mga na-recover na getaway vehicle, may mga dugo po doon (One of the hold-uppers was hurt. In the getaway vehicle we recovered, we saw blood marks)," he said. The shooting incident triggered tension among mall-goers and bystanders at the time of the incident. Police then had to lock down Greenbelt 5 to secure the area while an investigation was ongoing. Authorities eventually allowed those inside the mall to go out. - GMANews.TV