BY RAYMOND AFRICA

EIGHT employees and a security guard of the Cabuyao, Laguna branch of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. were killed yesterday in a robbery which police suspected to be an inside job.

The fatalities had gunshot wounds in the head. Police found the bodies of eight fatalities lined up in a single row on the floor, along with the security guard who died on the way to the hospital.

The bank’s manager, Isagani Pastor who was also shot in the head, is in critical condition at a hospital. He is under heavy guard.

"They were murdered gangland-style, each one shot in the head," said Chief Supt. Ricardo Padilla, Southern Tagalog police director.

"We suspect a possible inside job because those behind this heinous crime killed all possible witnesses who could identify them," he said, adding two of the bank’s three guards were missing.

He said the heist could have happened between 6 and 9 a.m. before the bank on Diezmo road, Barangay Pulo was to be opened for business.

"May isa raw client na nagtaka kung bakit 9 o’clock na ay hindi pa bukas ang bangko. So, the client called up other RCBC employees who in turn called up the Cabuyao branch but no on was answering the phones," Padilla said.

The incident was then reported to the local police.

Padilla said responding policemen found the front door of the bank closed while the back door was wide open.

The fatalities were identified as employees Roberto Panganiban Castro, Benjamin Nidao Jr., Juan Layba, Bernardo Papaan Jr., Noel Olaez Miranda, and Ferdinand Bernard Antonio who was identified in reports also as a bank client.

Two of the fatalities, both women, were unidentified.

The security guard was identified only as "Aguilando."

Padilla said the robbers fled with a still undetermined amount of money from the vault.

The robbers also stole a Toyota Revo owned by one of the fatalities. The vehicle was later found abandoned in Turbina, Calamba City.