Slain Greenbelt 5 robber identified

MANILA, Philippines - Police have identified the slain robber in last Sunday’s daring heist at a Rolex watch store in the posh Greenbelt 5 mall in Makati City.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Roberto Rosales said a woman who claimed to be an aunt of the dead man identified him as Armando Domingo of Isabela province.

Domingo’s remains were at a funeral parlor in Pasay City.

“We have no file of him. We are still in the process of validating whether he was indeed Armando Domingo,” Rosales told The STAR.

“We are waiting for the aunt to surface so we could have some more information on his background,” he said.

But Senior Superintendent Cedric Train, chief of the Makati City police, said in a radio interview that they have received information that Domingo had pending cases of murder and theft before a court in Antique and a trespassing case before the municipal trial court of Rizal province. Train said it was not clear yet if the slain robber was the same Domingo cited by police informants.

Rosales said the aunt wanted Domingo’s body to be transferred to the Dino funeral homes in Caloocan City. The reason for the request was not immediately clear.

Domingo was killed when he and his companions shot it out with two security aides of Taguig City Mayor Freddie Tiñga who chanced upon them while the robbery was in progress.

The two security aides who were members of the elite Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) were Senior Police Officer 1 Cesar Tiglao and Police Officer 1 Efren Ceniza Jr.

“The robbers rushed out of the building firing their guns indiscriminately in the air to cover their escape after my men ran out of bullets,” said Rosales.

When gunned down, Domingo was carrying a tennis bag containing Rolex watches that he scooped out of the store counter.

Also recovered from him were a .45 caliber pistol and an M16 Armalite rifle with an M203 grenade launcher.

A store official said the robbers managed to take away 64 pieces of Tudor watches worth a total of P6 million.

Possible lapses

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa directed the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to look into possible lapses of the police and mall security guards.

Rosales said the IAS and the Special Investigation Task Force (SITF) headed by Southern Police District (SPD) director Chief Superintendent Jaime Calungsud would jointly investigate the incident.

The NCRPO chief gave no deadline for the completion of the joint probe.

Police said surveillance videos showed that Alvin Flores, the head of a notorious robbery gang that bears his name, personally led the Greenbelt 5 heist. Another suspect caught on video was identified only as Waway.

Police have blamed Flores’ group for some high-profile robberies like those at the St. Scholastica’s College late last year and at a Union Bank branch in Makati City last June.

Flores was listed in the PNP’s directorate for intelligence as one of the top 20 bank robbers in the country. The PNP has recommended to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) a P500,000 reward for his capture.

The PNP said Flores is also facing charges of frustrated homicide and slight physical injuries before the courts in Muntinlupa City; Gumaca, Quezon and Quezon City.

Rosales said six teams from the NCRPO and the Southern Police District have fanned out across Metro Manila and nearby provinces looking for Flores and his companions.

Mall security guard Glen Saez told police that the robbers arrived before noon in a Toyota car (plate no. XGR 613) and a Honda car (WKM 262).

Saez said the robbers, who wore black shirts with “Police” and “Bomb Squad” markings, claimed they were responding to a bomb threat call from Greenbelt 2.

The security guard said he saw the same men running out of the establishment minutes later, firing their guns indiscriminately and fleeing toward Esperanza street in their getaway vehicles.

The vehicles were abandoned on Lapu-Lapu and San Geronimo Streets in Magallanes Village with their license plates detached.

Rosales said he and Calungsud are set to meet this morning with former PNP chief Edgar Aglipay, owner of the Emirates Security Agency, whose 33 security guards are assigned at Greenbelt.

‘Where were the guards?’

Mall guards should have helped the two SWAT men fight it out with the armed robbers, Chief Superintendent Ireno Bacolod, director of the PNP Civil Security Group, said.

“They are supposed to be our force multipliers. That is one reason why we arm them. They should have aided the police officers inside the mall,” Bacolod said.

In an interview over dzMM, Aglipay said his guards did not confront the robbers for fear of endangering shoppers in the crossfire.

But Bacolod said the guards could have helped rout the robbers with their knowledge of the mall area.

“They should have been prepared at all times,” he said.

“Actually, when you secure the premises, it includes patrons, protection of life and property,” he said. “How can you protect the lives of your patrons from threat groups if you will not react?”

On reports that the armed men had pretended to be responding to a bomb threat, Bacolod said the security guards should have been the first to sense the ruse.

“They should have at least stopped them first and verified with their superiors if there really was a bomb threat,” he said.

Bacolod also said a special arrangement between a client and a security agency may limit the response capability or firepower of guards.

“Some clients want their guards to be in barong. And if they’re in barong, they’re not authorized to carry guns,” he said.

He also said there are rules against bringing of firearms inside public areas like malls.

“Except probably in the case of armored van personnel who deliver money to malls. But just the same those personnel are not authorized to carry long firearms inside malls,” he said. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mike Frialde, Jose Rodel Clapano