Six holduppers strike Bingawan store
Just as the Iloilo Police Provincial Office declared an all-out war against the spate of robberies in the province, six men claiming to be members of the New People’s Army robbed a store in Bingawan, Iloilo on Friday afternoon, carting away P170,000 in cash and valuables.
Store owner Rey Patubo, 31, of Brgy. Guilhulacan, said the robbers posed as buyers of scrap goods, and after engaging him in a conversation, they declared a holdup.
Patubo said he lost cash amounting to P116,000 and jewelry worth P50,000.
The robbers also took groceries worth P5,000, and a mobile phone.
Armed with handguns and hand grenade, they hogtied Patubo and his sister, who was at the store to buy some goods, while they divested the store’s cash register and vault.
The group fled on board two Yamaha STX motorcycles going to Brgy. Malitbog Centro, Calinog town.
Patubo told the police he can identify two of the six robbers, who are suspected by authorities to be members of the Chiva-Fajardo Group based in Calinog, Iloilo.
IPPO intelligence section chief, Supt. Ipil Dueñas, however, said the group, with about 20 members, is now composed of remnants of other neutralized robbery groups.
“It’s more of a Chiva Group because its alleged leader was identified as a certain Jenel Chiva,” said Dueñas, who said a manhunt of the suspects is ongoing.
SUSPECT KNOWN
Meanwhile, the IPPO has already identified the assailant in the killing of a taxi driver whose body was left at a sugarcane field in Barotac Viejo, Iloilo last Wednesday.
IPPO director Senior Supt. Renato Gumban, however, refused to name the suspect.
“We have yet to match his fingerprints with those found at the crime scene,” he said.
Dueñas said their investigation revealed that the suspect is a taxi driver who works for the same company as victim Romeo Judillasin.
Investigation showed the suspect, a native of Barotac Viejo but presently resides in Leganes town, had financial problems because his two children are sick.
But it was later found out that he is in deep financial trouble because of his drug problem. There are also reports that the suspect texted his employer that he could not report for work because he committed a crime.
