Church locker keeps thieves from loot

Manila: Thieves who broke into a church in northern Philippines were forced to carry the burden of their guilt, literally, after a safety vault containing cash and valuables would not yield to their designs.

The thieves struck past midnight at Our Lady of Manaoag Church in Pangasinan and got their hands on about 1,200 pesos (Dh93.7) kept in the cashier's drawer but were forced to haul away a steel safety deposit box after all attempts to get to its contents proved futile.

"The perpetrators could be more than two persons as the vault is heavy. There was forcible entry to the office. We are puzzled as to why the security guards did not hear anything despite the fact that the robbers tried to open the vault by pounding it," Manaoag Police Chief Mateo Casupang was quoted by the daily Sunstar as saying of the incident at the church, long considered one of the richest parishes in the country.