‘Bountiful harvest’ of crooks

For President Arroyo, who has taken on the role of chief crimebuster, it was "a bountiful harvest" yesterday.

The Chief Executive presented the latest batch of arrested felons to media, ordered the prosecution of erring judges and prosecutors, and became the first President to file a criminal complaint against a suspected smuggler.

The latest groups of arrested suspects face charges of mugging and stealing the cars of restaurant patrons in Greenhills, San Juan, and Binondo, Manila.

"We have good news for the residents of Metro Manila. Over the weekend, the Philippine National Police (PNP) National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) arrested five members of the Honda robbery gang that is linked to at least 45 incidents in the metropolis," the President said.

"This is how big that syndicate is. The criminals we present to media are not small fry," she added in response to growing criticism of her "photo ops" at Malacañang with handcuffed suspects clad in detainees’ t-shirts.

This time, Mrs. Arroyo presented the captured suspects to media at the Department of Justice (DOJ) main office on Padre Faura street in Manila.

"I got a lot of text messages about these heists in Greenhills," the President said. The text messages spurred her to call up Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and order prompt police action.

"This is how bad these robbery gangs are — they victimized Greenhills restaurant patrons almost daily," she said.

A stolen wallet gave away the robbers, whose main targets were wealthy Filipino-Chinese businessmen.

Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco said the breakthrough in their investigation of the restaurant robberies came after the wallet of Harry Dy, owner of the Port Area Grille restaurant, was recovered near a videoke bar in Cainta, Rizal.

At least eight armed men barged into Dy’s restaurant last July 31 and divested 16 customers of cash and jewelry. They also took the restaurant’s P130,000 earnings and Dy’s wallet.

Dy’s empty wallet was recovered by a concerned citizen who was aware of Velasco’s newly activated "Magic Eye" program.

Upon being apprised of the recovery of Dy’s wallet, Velasco ordered Superintendent Rodrigo de Gracia, San Juan police chief, to conduct a routine investigation at the Minabalay Bar and Grill on VV Soliven street in Barangay San Isidro, Cainta. The police confirmed that male suspects fitting the descriptions of the men who robbed the Port Area Grill spent some time there drinking after the heist.

When the robbers hit a Chinese restaurant on Banawe street in Quezon City Saturday night, De Gracia dispatched his men, led by Chief Inspector Mariano Rodriguez, to the Minabalay Bar and Grill on a hunch the suspects would return to the bar.

According to De Gracia, he sent witnesses, Mario Oropa and Gerardo Macawili, company driver and security guard of the Mann Hann restaurant, respectively, to identify the suspects, after Rodriguez reported the presence of five suspicious-looking men at one table.

Rodriguez and his men rounded up the suspects right after the positive identification of Oropa and Macawili. They were identified as Reynante Salvacion, 23, Gino Mahinay, 32; Emerito Lague, 34; Dexter Saren, 29, and Jay Canlas.

Seized from the suspects were four caliber .38 revolvers and a black bag containing eight car license plates: WRT-639, USW-149, UJH-685, WAR-753, UFY-585, UKV-824 and WJZ-753.

Also confiscated from the suspects were assorted pieces of jewelry, two M-16 rifles, a maroon Honda Civic with license plates UJD-796, a green Toyota Revo with license plates WTB-823 and a Nissan taxi with license plate PXK-189.

The Revo, Mrs. Arroyo said, was stolen by the suspects from the brother of former Press Secretary Noel Cabrera, who is now the chief executive officer of Cocolife Insurance Co.

Velasco said the arrest of the five suspects was the first accomplishment of his "Magic Eye" program.

The five suspects were presented to Mrs. Arroyo by Ebdane, Velasco, Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Tor of the Central Police District and De Gracia at the DOJ yesterday.

Magic Eye lauded

Mrs. Arroyo commended the concerned citizen who offered vital information that led to the immediate arrest of the hoodlums under Velasco’s "Magic Eye" program, which encourages the public not only to report criminals but also abusive cops.

Ebdane later told the President that the tipster learned about the PNP’s "Magic Eye" program under which tipsters receive rewards for information that leads to the arrest of criminals.

"So, we will see with every arrest. We will show how strong our resolve is to put every criminal behind bars. In every arrest, you see how citizen cooperation contributes to positive police action," the Chief Executive said, adding that "the partnership of police and the citizenry is the strongest defense we have against criminals. Working together against crime will build our strong Republic."

According to De Gracia, the victims in the Port Area Grille and Mann Hann restaurant robberies turned up yesterday at police headquarters and positively identified the five robbers, who all admitted taking part in the twin robberies.

De Gracia said charges of robbery in band, illegal possession of firearms and car theft will be filed against the five suspects.

Mrs. Arroyo ordered Perez to expedite the prosecution of all robbery cases whose suspects were presented to her so that "justice be served to the victims."

"Under my vision for a strong republic, it is my administration’s continuing resolve to put criminals behind bars, to send a strong message to these law violators that their days are numbered," said Mrs. Arroyo in a statement.

Also captured in the police dragnet across Greenhills were the Resto hold-up gang members whose modus operandi was to rob restaurant patrons and cashiers of money and valuables.

Taking note of the police reports on the arrests, the President ordered the NCRPO to continue coordinating with PNP’s Region 10 and Caraga offices in order to fine-tune the manhunt for the remaining Resto gang members, who are mostly escapees from prisons in the provinces of Misamis and Surigao.

The President was at the DOJ, where she presented the first "big" rice smuggling case filed by Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo and the PNP’s presentation of the Philippines’ third most wanted car thief.

Two other suspected car thieves, Victor John Ignacio and Raymundo Bautista, were also arrested by the Cainta police at 9:30 a.m. on the same day the Honda gang members were arrested. Police said Bautista has stolen 20 cars.

Seized from these two suspects were several paraphernalia used for breaking into and stealing cars as well as parts of stolen vehicles.

Next: Smugglers, drug traffickers, erring judges

Meanwhile, the President has ordered Perez to initiate administrative and criminal charges against three regional trial court judges following questionable rulings that had favored suspected smugglers of rice and traffickers of illegal drugs.

Mrs. Arroyo gave the directive during a her meeting with closed-door meeting with Justice Secretary Hernando Perez and other DOJ officials led by Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño.

While at the DOJ, the President personally filed charges against Bicolano businessman Antonio Chua, the alleged consignee of a shipload of smuggled rice last year.

The erring magistrates were identified as Tabaco Judge Arnulfo Cabredo, Olongapo City Judge Eliodoro Ubiadas and Pasig City Judge Rodrigo Lorenzo.

She said Cabredo and Ubiadas issued the temporary restraining orders (TRO) that initially hampered the government’s efforts in seizing the smuggled rice. Lorenzo, on the other hand, granted bail to six Chinese nationals accused of drug trafficking, a non-bailable offense.

Late last year, some 35,000 bags of rice worth P50 million on board the M/V Criston were intercepted in Legaspi City. But the Legaspi judge, upon the petition of consignees Chua and Carlos Carillo, issued a TRO preventing the Bureau of Customs (BOC) from detaining the shipment.

The vessel managed to escape in November after changing its name to M/V Neptune Breeze. It was eventually caught in Mariveles, Bataan.

"The M/V Criston left port without the proper clearance. In other words, tumakas. Nakatakas dahil sa TRO (It escaped because of the TRO)," the President said.

The government, she said, will no longer tolerate such actions and will begin filing appropriate charges: "We will no longer be masochists in cases like these."

While not naming Ubiadas, Mrs. Arroyo also singled out a "Subic judge" who, she claimed, also thwarted efforts to pin down smugglers involved in what could have been the largest seizure ever in her administration’s anti-smuggling drive: "The judge also issued a TRO. That is why we will be filing charges."

The President also fumed over the decision of the Pasig judge to grant bail to six Chinese nationals accused of trafficking some 200,000 kilos of shabu — a non-bailable offense.

Erring government prosecutors didn’t escape her ire either: "Who was the prosecutor who kept mum?"

She ordered the DOJ chief to punish Pasig prosecutor Conrado Tolentino for failing to oppose the granting of bail to the drug trafficking suspects: "For this quantity of shabu, it should have been a non-bailable, capital offense. The judge granted bail. The prosecutor said nothing. Charges will be filed against the judge. Also the prosecutor."

The President said the cleanup of the judicial system is part of the total war against criminality declared during her State of the Nation Address last month: "As I said in my SONA, if the private sector can file charges against erring judges, then there should be no reason why the DOJ cannot do the same."

History in the making

In a related development, Mrs. Arroyo personally filed charges yesterday against a Bicolano businessman involved in smuggling P50 million worth of contraband rice into the country last year.

The lawsuit filed against Chua and three other people was received by Perez. Mrs. Arroyo was accompanied to the (DOJ) by Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said Chua and Carlos Carillo were the alleged consignees of some 35,000 bags of imported rice which arrived at the Tabaco, Albay pier on board the M/V Criston in September last year.

"Chua and Carillo, being the consignees of the shipment, are responsible for the unlawful importation of the rice. During the investigation, it was discovered that the M/V Criston was brought to Tabaco, Albay without the necessary import documents," a BOC statement said. The two businessmen were charged along with El Greco Ship Manning and Management Corp. president Pierre Toundjis and ship captain Yushawu Awudu, a Ghanian national.

Customs officials said Toundjis and Awudu were just as liable as Chua and Carillo because they presented "spurious" documents which tried to "mislead" authorities from confiscating the smuggled rice shipment.

The BOC will later file an "amended complaint" that will include Tabaco Judge Arnulfo Cabredo as "co-conspirator" after he issued a temporary restraining order that stopped authorities from initially taking custody of the rice shipment.

Perez said the President did not tell the DOJ what to do regarding the case: "She was merely performing her duty. We will still decide on the basis of the evidence (presented). This has been made clear to the President."

She vowed there would be no let-up in the campaign against smuggling: "This is just the first in the a series of charges against big-time smugglers that we have been talking about. More will be coming in the next few weeks."