Police are following up leads in the P1.2 million robbery of a business establishment in Barangay Bantayan, Dumaguete City, Saturday, Police chief, Supt. James Goforth, said yesterday.

Five armed men had barged into the Cosner Trading Corporation in Bantayan and announced the heist.

Initial investigations show that when the gate of the store opened for driver Joel Romarate of Siaton to get out, the armed men barged in and immediately disarmed the guard on duty Mario Manrique, 49, of Solid Security Agency, of his .38 service revolver, and ordered him, Romarate and five other employees to duck.

They ordered supervisor Emelito Guarin to open the steel cabinet, but only folders were found inside. A mestizo-looking suspect then went to cashier Marilou Sun, 40, of Lower Cantil-e, and took the day’s sales amounting to around P1.2 million, the police said.

The suspects also took away personal belongings and money of the employees, and fled on board two motorcycles towards the city proper.

Goforth said the suspects were able to take hold of the security system’s control panel, damage the CCTV cameras, and take the recordings with them. Goforth said they are not discounting the possibility of an inside job.

He said the crime was well-planned, and the suspects did a stake-out and had firsthand information on the routine of the employees, especially during closing hours. The heist was executed at the time the cashier was counting the sales for the day and the safety vault was open, Goforth added.

He said it is possible that these are the same individuals or groups involved in past robberies in Dumaguete City and other parts of Negros Oriental.*JFP/JG

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