ROBBERS took P6.2 million from a teller of the Security Bank branch inside the campus in a daring heist last December 10 that has again rung the alarm bells on the level of security in the University. This early, police are looking at an inside job, and are wondering why blue guards around campus were oblivious to the major security breach.
According to the police report, bank teller Ma. Khristine Ajero and security escort Roger Anguilan were on their way to the bank after collecting P4.5 million in cash and P1.7 million in checks from UST Hospital when two men wielding high-powered guns blocked their way.
One of the robbers grabbed the money bags and then escaped along with his partner, riding separately in motorcycles toward Dapitan Street. The head of the UST security office, Clemente Dingayan, said four men carried out the heist, based on initial findings.
The Manila Police District told the Philippine Star that UST’s security guards would have to be questioned on how the robbers were able to bring firearms into the campus and why they were able to escape despite the presence of guards in all entry and exit points.
In an interview with the Varsitarian, Dingayan said statements from witnesses were still being collected and the Crisis Management Team – the University task force formed to handle emergencies – needed to investigate first before issuing a statement.
Dingayan withheld other details.
A sophomore journalism student who witnessed the robbery said the motorcycles were headed toward Dapitan at around noon. “Two fast motorcycles drove away to the Dapitan gate. Me and my friend did not have any idea they were the robbers because there was no commotion or any attempt to stop them from leaving,” said the Artlets student, who asked not to be named.
Dingayan agreed that the robbery could have been an inside job.
“The robbery was executed in a very precise manner. They were probably transported by a vehicle that entered the public entrance of the UST Hospital, so we cannot easily determine their names in the gate’s logbook,” he said.
Securing a big campus like UST is hard, he admitted.
“If we impose tighter security like checking all bags of people entering and exiting the campus, it would take a lot of time. We have 40,000 students who pass through the gates almost everyday, excluding the visitors and hospital patients,” Dingayan said.
