CABUYAO, Laguna--as though they were compelled to queue for their doom, three of the bodies were found side by side in a common pool of blood.
Two others were in the vault, lying among scattered peso bills. The rest lay in front of the counter, between office dividers--most with a single shot in the head.
Before taking off with an undetermined amount, yet unidentified robbers went on a killing spree early Fridayat the one-story branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) in this town of industrial parks.
Officials said it was the worst crime in Laguna in recent memory.
"They were executed," Edwin Ermita, vice president for corporate services of the Yuchengco Group, RCBC's mother company, said of those killed--branch manager Roberto Panganiban Castro, tellers Bayani Nicdao and Olga Gonzalez, operations assistant Noel Miranda, new accounts officer Teresa Umayam, cashier service head Bernardo Lapaan Jr., janitor Juan Leyva, security guard Baltazar Aguilando and a depositor's representative Ferdinand Antonio.
"Three were found dead as if they were told to line up; they were shot pointblank," Senior Supt. Felipe Rojas Jr., the Laguna police director, told the Philippine Dailiy Inquirer.
Marketing manager Isagani Pastor was found in critical condition, and was taken to hospital.
The provincial government is offering a reward of P100,000 to anyone with information that can lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of the "horrific" crime, said Laguna Gov. Teresita "Ningning" Lazaro.
In Manila, Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla offered another P100,000.
"All [the tipster] has to do is coordinate with the Philippine National Police. I hope this will speed up the solving of the case," Revilla said.
No sign of forced entry
Police recovered a gray Nissan van owned by a slain employee at Barangay Turbina, Calamba City. Rojas said the van was used as a getaway vehicle.
Rojas said what happened could have been an "inside job."
He said six to seven gunmen must have been involved, gaining access through the back door. He expressed the belief that "somebody from the inside must have opened it for them."
Benito Cupino, detachment commander of the Laguna Industrial Park Police Action Group (Lippag), also said the robbers took the back door and might have waited for the bank employees to arrive.
He said there was no sign of forced entry, and raised the possibility that the victims knew the robbers because all of them were deliberately killed.
Pulo Barangay Captain Odilon Caparas also said he believed the robbers had a connection with one of the employees.
"The robbers know where to enter," he said, adding that no one had heard the shots.
Cupino said the vault had been forcibly opened, and police found peso bills scattered on the floor.
Police and bank officials have yet to disclose how much was stolen, but Rojas said it must be much more than the P300,000 and $3,000 that police found left in the vault.
Joel dela Cruz, a security guard who was supposed to have replaced Aguilando in the morning, is still missing. Regidor Sapon, another security guard, reported to the police after hearing of what had happened.
Body on the floor
Clients alerted police upon seeing a body on the floor when they peeked through the locked glass door, Rojas said.
Police moved in soon afterward, between 9:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., and broke through the door to gain entry.
They found 9-mm, 38-cal. and 45-cal. shells, along with coins, bloodied cash bags and bills, scattered on the floor. (The recovered cash in bloodstained bags was later seen being carried out to an armored van.)
According to the Yuchengco Group's Ermita, crime investigators processed the scene for close to five hours.
Bloody shoe prints marked the floor as police and bank officers came in and out to collect evidence.
"There are similar incidents in Metro Manila but the difference here is that they were killed," said Rojas. "I don't see any reason why they would be killed, but someone said the bank employees must have known some of the robbers."
Police found no security footage that could help track down the robbers.
The Inquirer saw evidence bags containing video tapes, but a crime scene officer said these were found already destroyed.
Isolated place
"Look around. There are just grasslands," Rojas said, indicating the weedy landscape fronting the office of roughly 80 square meters, which is accessible mainly by private vehicles and tricycles.
Governor Lazaro said a "horrific" crime such as this was a first in the history of Laguna.
"I had a prediction that something like this would happen here because this is an isolated place," she said.
Lazaro said she had ordered the police to make arrests within three days.
"There should be more patrols here by the barangay and police. There are so many big companies here and we should be careful about security," she said, referring to the many locators in the 173-hectare Light Industry & Science Park of the Philippines.
She said she would meet shortly with police officials to discuss peace and order in the province.
Barangay Captain Caparas said the community was shocked because this was the first time such a crime had happened.
"Normally, there are petty crimes. But this one really frightened the people," he said.
Caparas said the crime could frighten investors and workers.
"It was also surprising because the security inside the industrial zone is very tight," he said.
Grief
Distraught relatives came trickling in throughout Fridayafternoon, many almost unable to speak.
"I got a call from the security agency asking me if my husband went to work. I said, ‘Yes, he left at 6 a.m... I'm sure he's there because he goes to work even when he is sick," said Baltazar Aguilando's weeping wife, Susan, as her relatives pulled her away from the media.
Juan Leyva's family has yet to recover from a recent loss, and now faced yet another death.
"He was really the kindest brother. I don't know now what to do because someone in the family just died yesterday," said Leyva's sister, Lydia.
In Manila, anti-gun advocate Nandy Pacheco issued a statement calling on President Macapagal-Arroyo "to ask Congress to increase the penalty for illegal possession of firearms to reclusion temporal (from 12 to 20 years, without pardon and parole), and to order a total gun ban in public places except for uniformed police officers who are on duty."
Task Force RCBC
And PNP Director General Avelino Razon ordered the Region 4-A commander, Chief Supt. Ricardo Padilla, to form "Task Force RCBC" to go after the perpetrators.
Task Force RCBC will be composed of investigators from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Crime Laboratory, and Traffic Management Group, all from the Region 4-A command, and the Laguna police, said the PNP spokesperson, Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome.
