Their sixth companion, Roberto Barredo, was killed when he shot it out with responding policemen.
At least eight victims have given statements to the police identifying them as behind the rash of robbery-holdup cases in Marikina City and nearby towns and cities, said Chief Superintendent George Aliño, Eastern Police District (EPD) director.
Facing multiple robbery charges were Roberto Cariño, 30; Michael Garcia, 27; Jojo Muza; Cesar Dumundun, 40, and August Dayrit, 20.
They were arrested in a hot pursuit operations conducted by the Marikina City police right after they robbed a passenger jeepney of P50,000 worth of cellphones, pieces of jewelry, wallets and assorted bags.
Barredo was killed when he engaged responding policemen to a shootout. He yielded a caliber .38 revolver.
Aliño said another caliber .38 and four bladed weapons were recovered from the five arrested suspects.
As of yesterday, more robbery-holdup victims turned up at the Marikina City police headquarters and positively identified the five suspects as the same men who held them up in Barangay Barangka months back, said SPO1 Bello Forgueta, officer-on-case.
Aliño called on other robbery holdup victims to surface and identify the five suspects so additional charges would be filed and for them to "rot in jail."
The EPD chief said the killing of Barredo and the arrest of the five other suspects should serve as a warning to criminals that crime does not pay.
Meanwhile, the four police commanders in eastern Metro Manila are performing above par in the campaign against illegal gambling and anti-criminality, Chief Superintendent George Aliño, said in a telephone interview.
"They all passed the criteria I gave them so there’s no need to rock the boat at this time if I had my way," said Aliño in a telephone interview.
Earlier, Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Romeo Peña gave the 37 police station commanders in the metropolis two weeks to shape up or be relieved for being remiss in their duties. – Non Alquitran