MANILA, Philippines – Police have identified five of the 13 men who allegedly robbed an armored van parked beside a mall in Taguig City two weeks ago.
Two of those identified, Nestor Mutia and Romeo Baluran, were arrested last week. The rest remain at large.
Taguig police chief Supt. Alfred Corpus said witnesses were able to identify three of the suspects through police files.
Bobby Baliber, Michael Damolo, Cristy Llanos, together with Mutia and Baluran, were tagged as suspected members of the Lahay-Lahay and Colanco groups.
The five, along with eight other unidentified robbers, were charged with robbery in band and multiple frustrated homicide on Monday before the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office.
The 13 men allegedly robbed a Chinabank armored van parked by the Market! Market! mall in Bonifacio Global City on July 11.
The group, armed with long and short firearms, made off with around P3 million in cash.
The armored van was carrying money that was about to be loaded into automated teller machines on the mall’s second floor.
Two bank tellers, Paolo Aguilar and Elmer Carillo, were injured in the incident as well as two security guards identified as Rene Boy Pader and Samuel Cacho.
One of the tellers was later able to identify Llanos as the one who shot him with a handgun, Corpus said in his report to Mayor Freddie Tinga.
Another witness said Baliber had poked a gun at one of the van’s security escorts.
Baliber is an alleged member of the Lahay-Lahay robbery group linked to various robbery incidents in the cities of Pasay and Parañaque.