Pasay cops lauded for quick response to Mall of Asia rob

MANILA, Philippines—A week after a team of rookie policewomen earned praise for engaging a robbery gang in a gunfight at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) in Pasay City, the rest of their peers who responded to the incident also got their share of accolades.

In a ceremony at Pasay City Hall on Monday, Mayor Antonino Calixto and guest Sen. Francis Escudero awarded certificates of commendation to the the Pasay police for the arrest of one of the 10 suspects in the March 30 jewelry store heist.

Calixto also announced that the city government would be giving 10 new patrol cars and 20 motorcycles to the local police.

The mayor lauded the local force headed by Senior Supt. Florencio Ortilla for the arrest of robbery suspect Bryan Bansawan, alias Mahdi L. Abelin.

He noted that while it was the policewomen from the police help desk at MOA who were the first to engage the armed robbers, the speedy arrival of other officers from the nearby Pasay Police Community Precinct (PCP) and the Pasay Special Weapons and Tactics team led to Bansawan’s arrest at Tokyo Tokyo restaurant in the mall’s Building A.

On Monday, Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan L. Purisima awarded the PNP Medal of Merit to the all-female team from the National Capital Region Police Office Public Safety Battalion for being the first responders.

Honored for their courage and gallantry were PO1 Juliet Macababad, PO1 Delia Langpawen, PO1 Marcelina Bantiyag, and PO1 Maricel Rueco.

One of the suspects who were able to escape is believed to have been wounded by the policewomen, after investigators recovered a blood-soaked shirt not far from the crime scene. The shirt also sported what appeared to be bullet holes.

A security camera footage later showed one suspect wearing the same shirt minutes before the robbery, according to Southern Police District director Chief Supt. Jose Erwin Villacorte.

Villacorte admitted that “luck” also played a role in the quick police response to the March 30 heist. “At that time, the SWAT team was on patrol around MOA. It was the SWAT team who later tracked down Bansawan inside the restaurant,” he recalled.—Jaymee T. Gamil