Palace: Greenbelt 5 robbery will not turn off investors

Malacañang on Monday expressed confidence that last Sunday's foiled robbery at the posh Greenbelt 5 mall in Makati City would not discourage foreign businessmen from investing in the Philippines. In a press briefing, deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said the heist should only serve as a reminder that crimes could take place anywhere and what should matter was how the local authorities responded to the crime. "We trust that businessmen will not be unduly alarmed by this particular incident... Businessmen are astute enough to realize that these things can happen anywhere, in any country," Olivar said.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, for his part, expressed the same confidence even as he alerted property owner Ayala Land, the Makati Police and the city’s barangay leaders to review and strengthen their security measures. “Whatever shortcomings were seen are being addressed. Makati will always be a safe place and we have agreed on measures that we need to implement to keep our residents, investors, and visitors safe," he said in a statement. The police earlier said that it has already established certain leads on the group behind the noon-time heist but refused to disclose the perpetrators’ identities. Armed men wearing police uniforms barged into Greenbelt 5 Sunday noon and tried to loot a store selling Rolex watches. A shootout with the security detail of Taguig Mayor Freddie Tinga, who was at the vicinity at the time, resulted to the death of one suspect. - GMANews.TV