Bank manager killed while driving to work in Manila

A CURIOUS crowd looks at the silver gray Mazda of a bank manager after she was shot while driving on Taft Avenue, Manila. The van came to a stop near the National Bureau of Investigation office. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

The family and friends of a 51-year-old bank manager who was shot dead on her way to work at 9 a.m. yesterday were at a loss on the motive behind her killing.

“Her routine consisted of going to work and coming home.  She always ate at home,” the victim’s brother-in-law told the Inquirer.

Rosemarie Gatan, the manager of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Taft-Padre Faura branch in Manila, was behind the wheel of her van on Taft Avenue when two men on a motorcycle shot her in front of Cosmopolitan Church, said SPO1 Rommel del Rosario of the Manila Police District homicide section.

Gatan was hit in the head, near her left ear. Her vehicle sped past the BPI office on Padre Faura and came to a stop only after it hit a concrete kilometer sign in front of the National Bureau of Investigation office.

Gatan’s coworkers rushed her to the hospital after they learned of the incident from bystanders who knew her. However, she was declared dead on arrival at the nearby Medical Center Manila. Recovered from her car was her bag which contained bank documents, including checks and passbooks.

The bank janitor, security guard and assistant branch manager who took the victim to the hospital said they did not have an idea why anyone would want her dead.

They added that as far as they knew, she did not have any problem with anyone at work.

The police, meanwhile, said they would check with nearby establishments to determine if any closed-circuit television camera in the area was able to capture the incident to help them identify the victim’s killers. The bank has a security camera but it was trained only on the entrance.