Robbers escape with P6.2M cash in Manila armored van robbery

Armed men escaped with at least P6.2 million cash about to be loaded to an automated teller machine (ATM) in Manila, early Monday.

Superintendent Albert Barot of the Manila Police District said the robbery happened at around 2 a.m. at the corner of Remedios Street and Taft Avenue.

Barot said armed men appeared as bank personnel were about to unload the money from an armored van and load it to a Bank of the Philippine Islands' ATM in the area.

He said the robbery was done in just minutes.

He added that the robbers also took the firearm of the armored van's lone armed security guard.

Meanwhile, Barot urged armored van owners to coordinate with the local police if they are loading money to ATMs or bank branches in secluded areas.

In a statement, the Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI) said the said branch remains secure.

"We wish to assure our clients and the public that the bank has very tight security measures in place, and that said branch remains secure... Bank of the Philippine Islands is cooperating with authorities in order to catch the perpetrators of the crime," the bank said.

In the same statement, BPI also cleared that the armored van held up was not owned by the company, but by one of its contractors.

"We wish to clarify that it was a unit of the armored truck company servicing our bank -- not one of our branches -- that was held up earlier today by criminal elements before it could make a delivery to the branch," the Ayala-led bank said in an emailed statement.

"BPI reserves further comment on the matter to the authorities," it said, noting that the police are already conducting an investigation on the incident. —Kiersnerr Gerwin Tacadena and Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/ALG, GMA News