Guard, robber killed in foiled heist

Security escorts of an armored van figured in a shoot-out with holdup men yesterday morning at Alabang Town Center in Muntinlupa City, leaving a security guard and one of the robbers dead.

Chief Insp. Bogard Arao, Muntinlupa police deputy chief for operations, identified those killed as security guard Elmer Tagoc and Venancio Pioquinto, 33, of Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental.

Another security guard, Elmo Toreda, was wounded and taken to Alabang Medical Center for treatment.

He and Tagoc both worked for Gallantry Security Agency and Services Inc.

Arao said the robbery attempt took place at 10:50 a.m. yesterday in the parking lot outside Alabang Town Center’s Zapote Road entrance.

“Based on initial investigation, Tagoc and Toreda were part of the security force of an armored van supposed to deliver a yet unknown amount of money to the Czarina Foreign Exchange here,” Arao told the Inquirer.

As the guards were preparing to unload cash from the armored van, Toreda spotted Pioquinto lurking behind the vehicle.

“Toreda allegedly saw Pioquinto cock his .45 cal. gun and decided to shoot him with his shotgun,” Arao said.

Pioquinto managed to hit Toreda in the abdomen while Tagoc fired one back at Pioquinto, killing him. However, Pioquinto had three other accomplices riding on two motorcycles who shot Tagoc, leading to his death. The three then escaped on their motorcycles.

Arao said that no money was stolen as the security guards managed to secure the cash inside the van during the firefight.

He added that Toreda’s condition has stabilized although he would need surgery to remove the bullet in his abdomen.

Arao, meanwhile, lamented the lack of closed circuit television cameras in the area which could have helped them in their investigation.

“When we talked to the mall security, they told us that they have CCTV cameras but these have not been installed yet in the area,” he said.