Survivor in Laguna bank heist dies; police chief axed

MANILA, Philippines - The lone survivor in Friday's bloody bank robbery in Laguna province succumbed to injuries at about 10:45 a.m., Sunday, bringing to 10 the number of fatalities in the incident. As this developed, the head of the Philippine National Police in Cabuyao, Laguna also ended up as another "casualty," after PNP chief Dir. Gen. Avelino Razon Jr ordered his relief over the heist. "Namatay kanina 'yong pinakahuli na napasama sa insidente (The lone survivor in the heist died this morning)," PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome said on dzBB radio Sunday. Police earlier placed the lone survivor, Isagani Pastor, under tight security, hoping that he would recover and give authorities leads on the case. Bartolome said the PNP, in relation to the Laguna incident, came up with a series of directives after a conference held at the national police headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City on Sunday. These included:

• Reinforcing the no plate no travel policy, after the suspects' vehicle was found to have had no license plates;
• A shame campaign for banks that do not update or upgrade their security systems;
• Supervising the deployment of police personnel in the streets to ensure police visibility from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Adding police visibility at Laguna Industrial Park.

Bartolome said that during the case conference, Razon ordered the relief of Supt. Moises Pagaduan as Cabuyao police chief. He will be replaced by Chief Insp. Wenceslao Anore. He said Razon invoked the "one-strike policy" in ordering Pagaduan's dismissal. The PNP also recommended that a shame campaign be conducted on banks that do not update their security measures. "Nag-recommend ang PNP 'yong pag-evaluate o pag-assess ng security concern ng bangko dapat malaman ng tao natin, ng publiko nang sa ganoon magdadagdag sila sa security system (The PNP recommended that the evaluation of security measures be made public so banks will be pressured to update their security measures)," he said. - GMANews.TV