frank
10-27-2009, 12:11 AM
http://www.mb.com.ph/node/225345/
Up to six heavily armed men clad in black bomb squad uniforms figured in a fierce gunfight with security escorts of Taguig City Mayor Freddie Tinga after robbing a high-end watch store in Greenbelt 5, Makati, triggering panic in the posh Makati City mall before noon Sunday.
One of the unidentified suspects was instantly killed after Tinga's aides, identified as Cesar Ticlaw and Efren Cenesa, responded to the daring robbery inside the Rolex store located on the ground floor of Greenbelt 5.
Tinga, who was having lunch with relatives in a nearby restaurant, said they overheard several gunshots at about 11:50 a.m., unaware that it was his security aides who were involved.
"My escorts were just securing the vicinity of the restaurant when they caught the robbers in the act. It was a good thing that nothing bad happened to them for responding very quickly," Tinga said.
Unlike the mayor who did not see how the crime transpired, Stephanie Sheryl, owner of the Onest Tiger boutique located just across the Rolex store, saw how the armed men destroyed the glass casings of the expensive Swiss-made watches.
According to her, a foreigner and his pregnant wife were inside the Rolex store when the robbers forcibly entered and used their firearms to smash the watches' glass casings.
"They used their firearms in hammering the glass panels and pocketed the watches very swiftly. The couple immediately left so they were not hurt," she said.
Sheryl and her staff said they observed the daring heist from their store's stock room. Even the shop attendants of the Rolex store took refuge in their stock rooms.
Sheryl failed to identify the robbers' firearms but described them as "long." Southern Police District Director Chief Supt. Jaime Calungsod said based on witnesses’ accounts, the robbers were carrying M14 and M16 rifles.
"One of the robbers was gunned down but the rest evaded the police. We have secured and searched every floor but it was difficult to identify them from the civilians," he said.
Calungsod led responding operatives of the Makati and Taguig City Police in the search operations for the other suspects which caused panic among mall goers.
Although it was only Greenbelt 5 which was temporarily closed to the public during the search, the nearby Greenbelt malls were also deserted.
"It is good news that no one else was hurt except one of the robbers. "No other affected" he said.
While Calungsod vowed to review the mall's closed circuit television cameras for footage of the incident, Dindo Fernando of Ayala Land, Inc., owner of the Greenbelt malls, said they will review their security measures and investigate their security men's shortcomings.
"We will certainly look into possible flaws in our mall's security measures. But we want to assure the public that all of our malls enforce strict security regulations," Fernando said.
Two years ago today, an explosion rocked Ayala Land's Glorietta 2 mall. Although independent scientific investigators said it was caused by methane gas, others said the explosion was caused by terrorists.
Up to six heavily armed men clad in black bomb squad uniforms figured in a fierce gunfight with security escorts of Taguig City Mayor Freddie Tinga after robbing a high-end watch store in Greenbelt 5, Makati, triggering panic in the posh Makati City mall before noon Sunday.
One of the unidentified suspects was instantly killed after Tinga's aides, identified as Cesar Ticlaw and Efren Cenesa, responded to the daring robbery inside the Rolex store located on the ground floor of Greenbelt 5.
Tinga, who was having lunch with relatives in a nearby restaurant, said they overheard several gunshots at about 11:50 a.m., unaware that it was his security aides who were involved.
"My escorts were just securing the vicinity of the restaurant when they caught the robbers in the act. It was a good thing that nothing bad happened to them for responding very quickly," Tinga said.
Unlike the mayor who did not see how the crime transpired, Stephanie Sheryl, owner of the Onest Tiger boutique located just across the Rolex store, saw how the armed men destroyed the glass casings of the expensive Swiss-made watches.
According to her, a foreigner and his pregnant wife were inside the Rolex store when the robbers forcibly entered and used their firearms to smash the watches' glass casings.
"They used their firearms in hammering the glass panels and pocketed the watches very swiftly. The couple immediately left so they were not hurt," she said.
Sheryl and her staff said they observed the daring heist from their store's stock room. Even the shop attendants of the Rolex store took refuge in their stock rooms.
Sheryl failed to identify the robbers' firearms but described them as "long." Southern Police District Director Chief Supt. Jaime Calungsod said based on witnesses’ accounts, the robbers were carrying M14 and M16 rifles.
"One of the robbers was gunned down but the rest evaded the police. We have secured and searched every floor but it was difficult to identify them from the civilians," he said.
Calungsod led responding operatives of the Makati and Taguig City Police in the search operations for the other suspects which caused panic among mall goers.
Although it was only Greenbelt 5 which was temporarily closed to the public during the search, the nearby Greenbelt malls were also deserted.
"It is good news that no one else was hurt except one of the robbers. "No other affected" he said.
While Calungsod vowed to review the mall's closed circuit television cameras for footage of the incident, Dindo Fernando of Ayala Land, Inc., owner of the Greenbelt malls, said they will review their security measures and investigate their security men's shortcomings.
"We will certainly look into possible flaws in our mall's security measures. But we want to assure the public that all of our malls enforce strict security regulations," Fernando said.
Two years ago today, an explosion rocked Ayala Land's Glorietta 2 mall. Although independent scientific investigators said it was caused by methane gas, others said the explosion was caused by terrorists.