Police in Bukidnon are examining whether someone with knowledge of a rural bank’s cash movements helped orchestrate a brazen highway holdup that left armed robbers richer by more than P1.67 million.
The attack unfolded on the morning of June 17 along a secondary national road in Sitio Miranda, Barangay Damilag, in Manolo Fortich. According to GMA Regional TV, three employees of South Bank’s Libona branch were ferrying the bank’s cash collections to a Land Bank branch in Manolo Fortich for deposit when their gray Toyota Vios was waylaid.
Investigators said the suspects, riding a Ford Ranger pickup, blocked the sedan and opened fire. A security guard accompanying the bank staff fired back, and the two sides traded shots before the guard’s ammunition ran out. At that point, the attackers moved in and seized a bag holding P1,677,000 in cash before speeding off.
None of the three victims was hurt in the exchange.
In a follow-up operation, authorities recovered the pickup truck believed used in the getaway near the site of the attack. Police said they are still verifying the identity of a person of interest tied to the case.
The possibility that the robbery was facilitated from within the bank remains one of the leads police are pursuing as the manhunt continues.
