Raps filed vs. Aspac robbers

Robbery charges were filed before the court yesterday against five men -one of them the son of a provincial board member in Mindanao- accused of robbing the Aspac Bank branch in Tabogon town last Wednesday.

Cebu provincial prosecutor Pepita Petralba recommended setting the bail for each of the accused at P200,000.

The case against Roy Jose Quimada, 34, his 22-year old nephew Earl Allen Mondarte and three other unnamed companions, were assigned to the Regional Trial Court Branch 61 in Bogo town.

Chief Inspector Juanito Enguerra who heads the provincial PNP special operations group, identified Richard Intoy, Junnard Saladaga and a certain Glenn as among those who robbed the Aspac bank. But only Quimada and Mondarte were named in the information filed before the court yesterday.

The police earlier reported that Quimada had already confessed to them that a certain Gemma Otordoz was with the group during the robbery and had served as their look-out, but she was not included in the filing of charges because none of the Aspac Bank personnel were able to identify her.

Quimada and Mondarte were arrested on board a Toyota Corolla Altis car as they were about to pass by a checkpoint conducted in San Remigio town set up by the police after the robbery incident was flashed to all police stations in northern Cebu.

Although there is no solid evidence that P20,000 recovered from the possession of Mondarte was part of the P400,000 taken from the bank, the police confiscated from the suspects the bank's cash box and some of the checks earlier taken by the robbers.

When the police filed the complaint before the provincial prosecutors office yesterday, Mondarte's father Ernesto, a provincial board member of Zamboanga del Sur failed to hold back his tears saying he could not believe that his son would be involved in a crime.

The younger Mondarte, who will be celebrating his 22nd birthday in jail today, hugged his father. Later, his father calmly asked the reporters that he would not give further comments about the case of his son. - Rene U. Borromeo and Flor Z. Perolina