BY MAE SINGUAY AND DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Policemen of Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental have yet to identify the suspects in a bank robbery in Barangay 2 Poblacion. About P1.3 million cash went missing.
Six staff of the Rural Bank of Ilog Inc.-Hinoba-an Branch are being eyed as “persons of interest,” according to Police Major Clifford Batadhay, Hinoba-an police chief.
Around 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 11, two employees reported to the police they discovered the rollup door and the cash vault ajar.
According to Batadhay, the robbers may have evaded the bank’s security alarms and closed-circuit television cameras by getting in through the windows and unplugging the electronic security systems.
The bank also does not have any security guards.
Was it an inside job?
Possibly, Batadhay said, pointing out that the culprits managed to secure the keys and crack the vault’s number combination.
The logbook where the number combinations and the amount of money inside the vault were written also went missing.
Batadhay said the robbery likely took place between the late evening of Nov. 10 and early morning of Nov. 11.
He added that the bank was previously advised to conduct a weekly security assessment.
Traces of possible arson attempt were also noted, investigators said. They recovered a piece of red stripe face towel with a whiff of gas and a partially burned mosquito killer coil with eight pieces of matchsticks placed on the divider wall with documents, a police report showed.
Meanwhile, Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office spokesperson, Police Lieutetant Abegail Donasco commented that the robbery was staged “flawlessly.”
The police are also suspecting the heist could be related to the upcoming 2022 national and local elections./PN
