Termite gang hits Lipa City supermarket

LIPA CITY, Batangas (The Filipino Connection) – Members of the notorious "termite gang" struck once again, this time robbing Southern Twin Supermarket here of P500,000 in cash, authorities said.

Superintendent Carlos Barde, acting Lipa City police chief, said that the still unidentified group gained entry to the supermarket by digging a tunnel that was connected to a manhole about 100 meters away from the the Fiesta World Mall building, where Southern Twin is. They destroyed the market’s floor tiles using a hydraulic jack.

The suspects also dug another 12 meters of tunnel from the main road to the mall building.

Once inside, the suspects forcibly opened the drawers of the supermarket’s cash registers.

The supermarket had no CCTVs installed in its premises and had no security guard on duty at the time the incident transpired, which made it possible for the suspects to gain entry using their made tunnel.

Bookkeeper Elaine Tan and bagger Gerald Galang discovered the incident at around 8:16 am on Monday when they opened the supermarket. They found feces scattered on the floor and the cash register ransacked.

They also discovered a hole on the supermarket’s floor leading to the drainage.

This was the second time in only a month that a business establishment in Batangas was robbed in a similar manner.

On June 27, thieves dug a tunnel under the Mt. Carmel Rural Bank in Malvar town and carted away P300,000 in cash and other valuables. The suspects also destroyed the bank’s alarm system and stole its CCTV hard disk.

Barde said police are not discounting the possibility that the same group is behind the thefts.

Lipa City police is now coordinating with the Malvar police and other police stations in Batangas previously robbed by the same suspects to obtain CCTV footage and other evidence that would help identify the perpetrators.

The Filipino Connection is a Philippine community news organization based in Lipa City, Batangas.

The Filipino Connection is a Philippine community news organization based in Lipa City, Batangas.