Negros electric co-op robbed of P3.6 M

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines—Six armed men robbed the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) here on Friday morning and escaped with P3.6 million in cash,  police said.

The money, consisting of collections from customers for the month of February, had just been removed from the Ceneco vault for transfer to a bank armored car  when the robbers barged into the Ceneco cash division at 9:15 a.m., disarmed the guards and told the employees to lie on the ground face down.

Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, Bacolod police director, said the robbers, who were armed with hand guns, took the bags of money and escaped on motorcycles in an operation that lasted all of three minutes.

The robbers also took with them the guards’ guns, he added.

“It was a very organized, precise and swift operation. It is possible that the holduppers had information from inside,” De la Paz said.

He pointed out  that the robbers knew what time the money would be removed from the vault and the structure of the office.

De la Paz said the witnesses may be able to identify the robbers who were not wearing any masks.  Ceneco didn’t have any security cameras.