(File photo)
MANILA – Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge, Lt. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia, on Wednesday lauded the Police Regional Office in Calabarzon (PRO 4A) for the arrest of four members of a notorious robbery-hold up gang operating in Calabarzon and National Capital Region (NCR).
Sermonia commended the swift police action and intensified intelligence operations of the operating units that led to the arrest of the four suspects.
“Ang mabilis na aksyon ng ating kapulisan ay bunga ng kooperasyon at pagkikipagtulungan ng ating mga kababayan sa pamamagitan ng mga impormasyon at iba pang detalye na makakatulong upang agad na matukoy ang mga salarin na sangkot sa nakawang naganap sa nakalipas na buwan (The quick action of our police is the result of the cooperation and collaboration of our countrymen through information and other details that helped to immediately identify the culprits involved in the robbery that occurred in the past month),” Sermonia said in a statement.
PRO 4A director, Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., identified the suspects as Larry Gilbero, Jessierell Eusebio, John Clister Balderama and Diosdado Tamondong Jr., who were all arrested in an operation in Barangay Calzada in Tipas, Taguig City on Nov. 26.
The operation was conducted by joint operatives of the Regional Intelligence Division 4A Special Operations Unit and members of the Binangonan, Rizal, and Bacoor and Imus City police, in coordination with the local police.
Nartatez said the operation stemmed from the information they received on Nov. 25 from the crew members of a convenience store in Imus City, Cavite that was robbed by the suspects.
According to the report, four male suspects entered the establishment and directly asked the on-duty staff for the location of the vault at gunpoint.
Investigation disclosed that after the suspects stole the amount of PHP30,000 and four mobile phones from the convenience store, they immediately escaped using two motorcycles.
The suspects were also identified through closed circuit television camera footage recorded from the convenience store and nearby establishments.
The location of the suspects was tracked by police investigators thru the GPS tracker installed in one of the stolen mobile phones of the victims.
Confiscated from the suspects' possession were two .38-caliber pistols with defaced serial numbers, a. 22-caliber pistol, assorted ammunition, stolen mobile phones, a hand grenade, a motorcycle, and a signature baseball cap used by one of the suspects during their robbery heist. Meanwhile, the motorcycle was positively identified by victims as the one being used by the suspects during their escape.
Reports further revealed that the arrested suspects and other identified cohorts who remain at large, were involved in several robbery incidents that transpired in the provinces of Laguna, Rizal, Cavite, Batangas, and Las Piñas City from September to November this year.
The four suspects are now under the custody of the authorities and are facing robbery charges. (PNA)
