Members of the Manila Police District (MPD) arrested two men suspected of robbing a bank in Paco, Manila and presented them to the media on Thursday.
The suspects were identified as truck driver Carel Macarine, 32, a resident of Caloocan City, and truck helper Ryan Sale, 28, a resident of Quezon City.
However, a third man who is believed to be the one who entered and robbed the Chinabank Otis branch is still at large, National Capital Region Police Office chief, Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. said.
“Yung nangholdap sa bangko ay nakasakay ng motor and dun sa continuous follow up ay sinakay nila yung motor sa isang van. Dun sinakay ang motorcycle na ginamit as getaway vehicle ng suspect (The bank robber was seen on a motorcycle and in our continuous follow up, the motorcycle went inside a van, the motorcycle that was used as the getaway vehicle of the suspect),” Danao said in a press conference at the MPD headquarters.
Meanwhile, MPD Director, Brig. Gen. Leo Francisco, said the two suspects are “definitely involved” in the incident.
Danao said the three suspects are cousins.
Macarine and Sale were arrested during a follow-up operation at the Caltex Gasoline Station along Angelina Cananay Avenue in Parañaque City at about 2:30 p.m. on Monday.
Francisco said closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage showed the suspects on board a Transportify L300 Mitsubishi Closed Van that belongs to Belgrado Trucking with plate number NCW 2751.
He said the same vehicle was spotted parked for several hours before the actual bank heist along Paz Guanzon Street corner Mendiola Street.
On Monday, the Chinabank branch in Otis was robbed at about 1 p.m. by a lone robber who escaped on a motorcycle.
Police said the robber was able to enter the bank by pretending to be a customer applying for a new bank account.
Danao said the investigation is ongoing and they are also determining whether the suspects have previous criminal records.
The police also questioned the security guards on duty at the time of the incident.
The guards are on temporary release.
“Definitely, isasama sa investigation yung mga guards kasi parang synchronize(d) yung movement nung guard at ng mga taong ito (we will include the guards in our investigation because their movement seemed to be synchronized with that of the suspects),” Danao said. “’Yung amount actually is almost PHP690,000 plus, roughly PHP700,000. Yan yung dineclare na losses ng bangko. Yung PHP700,000 ay hindi pa rin natin nakukuha. Under investigation pa (The amount is more than PHP690,000, roughly PHP700,000. That was the losses declared by the bank. We have not yet recovered the amount. It is still under investigation).”
A case of robbery stick-up was filed against the arrested suspects before the City Prosecutors’ Office of Manila.
Source: Philippines News Agency
