Police: “Local boys” behind LBC robbery

CEBU, Philippines -  Police investigators are certain that "local boys" were behind last Monday's robbery of a local courier outlet in Barangay San Nicolas-Proper, Cebu City.

The police are also conducting a profiling of the robbers because of the possibility that they were the same people responsible for the robbery of another LBC outlet in Barangay Labangon last year.

Chief Insp. Romeo Santander, chief of the City Intelligence Branch, said that they are certain that the robbers were local boys.

The police are now looking at the similarities of the robbers who robbed LBC-Taboan branch last Monday and LBC-Labangon branch last year.

According to Santander, the two robbers were all medium built and were also wearing jackets.

Based on the video footage taken from the LBC outlet's security camera, the two unidentified robbers were wearing ball caps and yellow shirts. They were reportedly armed with .38 revolvers.

 In less than three minutes, they took away P42,342 which was captured by LBC's closed-circuit television camera.

LBC teller Danessa Safra described the robbers to be medium built. The first robber was wearing a ball cap, a yellow shirt, and a pair of sunglasses while his companion wore yellow jacket with a hood.

Santander dismissed the possibility of an inside job, saying they have conducted background investigation on the outlet's employees.

He said that they do not discount the possibility that the LBC-Mandaue outlet robbery was related to the one in Cebu City.

An LBC outlet in Highway Tabok, Mandaue City was also robbed on March 7 by two men riding a motorcycle. The robbers carted away P5,000.

Santander described it as "worst" since the suspects wore full-face helmets that prevented the camera from capturing their faces. The branch also does not have a security guard.

He reminded financial establishments to ensure utmost security when it comes to their businesses. He said that having CCTV may not be enough especially if the footages captured could not be enhanced.

"The safety and security are vulnerable factors in cases like this. Some financial establishments like LBC may have their reasons why they do not have security guards. We are not blaming anybody. We are just doing our part to remind them. I hope they do their part also," Santander said.

San Nicolas Police Station chief, Sr. Insp. Chuck Barandog, earlier said that even with a CCTV camera, the branch was an easy target due to the lack of security personnel.

Meanwhile, deputy provincial director for operations, Supt. Renato Malazarte, also reminded police chiefs in different towns of the province to be vigilant.

Although there was no reported robbery incident in the province, Malazarte said, they should not be complacent. According to him, they are aiming "zero robbery incidents" by beefing up their security patrol.

He said that the Provincial Intelligence Branch is now conducting a survey of all the business establishments in the province with security guards and CCTV cameras.

He said police visibility plays a very vital role in crime prevention and that right now they are deploying beat patrols in the streets.

"Nagbutang ta'g beat patrol for constant visibility sa area," he said. (FREEMAN)