Heavily-armed robbers posing as policemen stole cash and a service vehicle from a mobile phone distribution company in Quezon City, east of the Philippine capital of Manila on Monday morning during a "raid" against violators of intellectual property rights.

Reports say the eight "policemen," wearing bull caps with "Pulis" (police) and "PNP" (Philippine National Police) markings, introduced themselves to the store owner and said they were conducting a "raid" against sellers of fake mobile phones from China.

Employees at Oxford Distributor Inc. could not do anything as the robbers were all armed with .45 caliber pistols and M-16 assault rifles. The security guard manning the premise was also convinced the robbers were genuine police officers and opened the door.

After the door had been opened, the robbers disarmed the security guard at gunpoint and stole cash the company made over the weekend and drove off in the company's silver Ford service vehicle.

Another group of robbers faking themselves as policemen, also tried to rob a government employee in Valenzuela City, north of the capital. The seven armed men introduced themselves as policemen to Rene dela Cruz and said they were going to "search" his house.

However, when dela Cruz insisted on verifying their identities by calling a local police station, the men hurriedly left in a jeep.