Police ready five cases against Mandaue bank robbery suspect

CEBU, Philippines -  Five cases will be filed against the arrested suspect, who was one of the four persons tagged in the robbery of the Banco Maximo in Mandaue City last Thursday noon.

Investigation and Detective Management Bureau (IDMB) chief, Insp. Ramil Morpos, yesterday said Michael Labora, 31, resident of Barangay Sambag, Cebu City will be charged with three counts of robbery, concealing of deadly weapon and violation of the Comelec gun ban.

A deadly weapon was seized from the suspect’s possession when he was arrested Friday afternoon. He was pinned down after an 11-year-old witness, who was playing in the vicinity of the bank, positively identified him as one of those who pulled the heist.

The bank’s bookkeeper also tagged Labora as the person, who waited outside with the two get-away motorcycles.

Morpos said that a hot pursuit operation is still underway against Labora’s three other cohorts, who police believe are still here in Cebu.

The police officials said they have been coordinating with other police units here for the possible arrest of the suspects.

Labora was arrested Friday afternoon, or just one day after the heist, at the place of her line-in partner in Upper Tabok, Mandaue City.

Labora and his three other cohorts robbed Banco Maximo in Barangay Guizo, Mandaue City and took  the bank’s P30,000.

Aside from the bank’s money, the suspects also took the cellular phones of the two of the bank’s personnel, including the .38 caliber revolver of the bank’s security guard, Ernesto Doydora.

Mandaue City Police Office director, Supt. Noel Gillamac, also believes that the suspects who robbed the LBC courier service along A.S. Fortuna Street last Saturday were the same men behind the Banco Maximo robbery. He said one of the two suspects in the cartographich sketches also match the description of the suspects in the LBC robbery last week where the robbers took P2,000.

Gillamac also believes the robbery group is also targeting some big banks in the city and last Thursday’s heist was just a test of the capability of the police to respond to the alarm especially that when it took place, they were also busy at the “Russian Summit” held at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).   (THE FREEMAN NEWS)