Six heavily armed robbers in black bomb squad uniforms were in a shootout with the security escorts of Taguig City Mayor Freddie Tinga after robbing a Rolex store in Greenbelt 5. Right around noon of October 18, the Greenbelt 5 shootout occured after the six robbers went up against Tinga’s escorts named Cesar Ticlaw and Efren Cenesa.

One of the robbers in Greenbelt 5 was killed in the shootout. Mayor Tinga was having lunch with relatives in a restaurant when several gunshots were heard, which he did not know involved his escorts, at around 11:50 AM. Tinga stated about the Greenbelt 5 shootout and robbery:

“My escorts were just securing the vicinity of the restaurant when they caught the robbers in the act. It was a good thing that nothing bad happened to them for responding very quickly.”

The robbers had forcibly entered the Rolex store, which had a foreigner and his pregnant wife for customers, and smashed the watches’ glass casings with their rifles.

Southern Police District Director Chief Supt. Jaime Calungsod revealed that the robbers were carrying M14 and M16 rifles. He added about the Greenbelt 5 shootout and robbery:

“One of the robbers was gunned down but the rest evaded the police. We have secured and searched every floor but it was difficult to identify them from the civilians.”

Greenbelt 5 remains closed to the public, pending investigation. The main puzzle behind this is how the robbers of the Greenbelt 5 shootout grabbed hold of bomb squad uniforms.