Robbers run off with ATM in Philippines

Manila: An entire cash dispensing machine was uprooted and carted away by armed men in a van, in a daring highway heist in suburban Muntinlupa City recently.

Television reports said an entire automated teller machine (ATM) operated by the Bank of the Philippine Islands at a highway-side petrol refilling station in Muntinlupa City was taken by eight armed men.

The men easily disarmed a guard watching the cash machine. The entire operation only took two minutes.

Three days after the heist the ATM was recovered in Malasique town in Pangasinan province, some 300km away. It was empty.

A report by radio station dzBB said the robbers were wearing shirts with the word Bitag printed on it. Bitag is a popular TV show that exposes corrupt practices by men in uniform.