CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna—Some P271,000 in cash and P1 million worth of pawned jewelry and cellular phones were carted away by an undetermined number of men from a pawnshop in Calamba City early Thursday, the city police chief said.

Superintendent Nestor dela Cueva said the robbers got into the GEM pawnshop in Barangay Paciano in the first hour of Thursday.

In a phone interview, he said the robbers earlier rented a vacant space on the building's ground floor on October 31 and said they were converting the space into a computer shop right below the pawnshop.

Dela Cueva said they probably took advantage of the holidays to start drilling a hole at their ceiling, adding that nearby establishment owners thought the culprits were only renovating that portion of the building in the past few days.

He said the robbers made their way up to the pawnshop's vault through the hole at their ceiling.

The building's caretaker, in a statement to the police, said three people were usually seen around the building.