ILOILO — Robbers carried out a daring late-night or pre-dawn heist inside a mall in Barangay Ungka, Pavia, breaking into a pawnshop jewelry store and a money changer before slipping away undetected.
The incident was discovered early Wednesday morning as tenants of GT Mall were preparing to open their stores for the day. An on-duty security guard first noticed signs of the break-in and alerted authorities, according to Iloilo Police Provincial Office director Colonel Bayani Razalan.
Mall security camera footage showed three unidentified suspects inside the mall.
Initial investigation showed that the robbers likely entered the mall through an external drainage system before boring a hole through the tiled floor of a spa inside the mall. Police said the suspects used a grinder, jacks, and wooden planks to gain entry, from where they proceeded toward their targets.
Razalan said the robbers, instead of exiting through the spa’s door to reach the money changer and pawnshop, climbed into the ceiling of the spa and maneuvered through it until they reached the two establishments.
“This shows planning and familiarity with the structure. They deliberately chose a route that would avoid detection by the mall’s security cameras,” Razalan said.
The suspects were believed to have exited the mall through the same hole they bored in the spa’s floor before escaping via the external drainage system.
Losses at the money changer were initially estimated at around P500,000. As of this writing, the pawnshop jewelry store was still conducting an inventory to determine the total value of items taken.
Police noted similarities between the mall break-in and the robbery at Iloilo Supermart in Barangay Tabuc Suba, Jaro, Iloilo City in August 2024, where robbers carted away approximately P1.3 million in cash.
That robbery also occurred late at night or before dawn and employed tactics closely resembling those attributed to the so-called “Termite Gang.” In that case, the suspects gained access through a drainage system and dug a hole into an old, unused structure connected to the supermarket’s second floor, where the cash vault was located.
Police recovered tools from the drainage area, including a crowbar and a saw, which were believed to have been used to breach the floor and wall./PN
