2 dead in robbery try on soft drinks firm

ILOILO City—Two persons were killed and another was wounded when unidentified armed men attempted to rob the sales office of Pepsi Cola company in Passi City in Iloilo on Saturday evening.

Six robbers armed with handguns and a shotgun failed to open the vault of the office but shot dead a security guard in a shootout and a warehouse worker.

Another worker was wounded, Superintendent Noel Dumalag, Passi City police chief, told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.

Dumalag identified the fatalities as security guard Augusto Montepreyo and worker Roy Padernal. Worker Charlie Salvañe was wounded after he and Padernal tried to escape.

The police investigation showed that the robbers entered the sales office and warehouse around 8:30 p.m. through the back of the compound along Somera Street in Passi City, about 59 kilometers north of Iloilo City.

Dumalag said the armed men cut a portion of the cyclone wire perimeter fence and then shot Montepreyo who tried to stop them.

Three of the robbers proceeded to the office and held at gunpoint six workers and forced them to locate the vault while the three other robbers served as lookouts outside the office. The two workers were shot after they tried to flee from the armed men.

The robbers fled shortly through the back of the compound after they failed to open the steel vault, which was bolted to a concrete wall. Investigators found tracks of two motorcycles believed to be the getaway vehicles around 500 meters from the compound and near a plantation, Dumalag said.

Police were determining the identities of the robbers based on testimonies of the witnesses. Only one of the three robbers who entered the office wore masks, according to Dumalag.