Armed men barge into banker’s house in Las Piñas, kill guards

A group of men shot dead three security escorts guarding the sprawling residential compound owned by businessman Albert “Bobby” Aguirre in Las Piñas City before dawn on Saturday but did not take anything from the house.

They also did not harm the Banco Filipino owner who was then at home.

Instead, the armed men immediately fled Aguirre’s 1,000-square-meter estate at BF International Subdivision in Barangay (village) CAA in two private cars and a taxi.

They left behind a motorcycle (license plate 3962 WL) which, according to Las Piñas police chief Senior Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, was believed to have been stolen.

He identified the fatalities as security guard David Manguera; Melvin Padaca, a retired policeman; and Police Officer 3 Luisito Macatunao who was detailed with the Police Security and Protection Group.

All three died due to multiple gunshot wounds.

“Mr. Aguirre was not hurt in the attack,” Sapitula told the Inquirer in a phone interview Sunday. “He was at the second floor of his house during the shooting.”

He added that they were still trying to determine if the shooters were targeting the businessman whose bank was embroiled in liquidity problems and ordered shut by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last year.

Sapitula said that investigators were still evaluating the pieces of evidence they retrieved from the crime scene to determine the reason behind the attack.

He added, however, that robbery didn’t seem to be the motive.

“[The suspects] did not take anything from the house after the shooting. They did not even take notice of the luxury cars inside the garage when they walked in,” Sapitula said.

According to him, investigators had talked to Aguirre who expressed shock over the shooting but promised to cooperate with them in resolving the case.

A check of the footage taken by a closed circuit television camera showed around 10 men standing near Aguirre’s compound after the shooting, Sapitula said.

The footage has been sent to the Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Crame for “image enhancement.”

Based on the initial police investigation, the armed men knocked on the main gate, which was opened by Manguera who was unarmed.

After shooting Manguera, the gunmen went to the garage where they found Padaca. They gunned him down and then headed straight for a room nearby where Macatunao was sleeping with his gun under his pillow.

After shooting him, the armed men immediately escaped.