Northern Police District (NPD) director Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil presented to Metro police chief Director Vidal Querol the arrested suspects identified as Nathaniel Barbosa alias Jonel Ramos, 42, a native of Barangay Masbate and resident of Maypajo, Caloocan City; and Richie Neil Anghag, 28, a native of Imus, Cavite and a resident of Pandacan, Manila.
Three other suspects, including a female cohort, remain at large.
Querol commended Bataoil and Caloocan City police chief Senior Superintendent Geronimo Reside and their men for the early resolution of the case.
Bataoil said the suspects were the same perpetrators in the robbery staged at the Premiere Bank in Novaliches, Quezon City in March this year.
Barbosa and Anghag were together with three others in the robbery pulled off at around 11 a.m. of June at the RBC along Mabini street near Jacinto street in Caloocan City. The suspects carted away over P1 million in cash and valuables.
Bataoil said the early arrest of the suspects was made possible through the effort of the operatives of the Detective Branch under Senior Inspector Marcelo Mariano dispatched by Station Investigation and Detective Management Bureau (SIDMB) chief Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton.
The operatives collared the suspects during follow-up operations conducted in Pandacan, Manila, at the Manila Domestic Airport in Pasay, Sta. Rosa in Laguna and in Marilao, Bulacan.
A manhunt is still being conducted by Caloocan police for the arrest of the remaining suspects.
This developed as NPD operatives from the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and District Mobile Force (DMF) conducted a simulation exercise along C-3 Road that lasted some 30 minutes, involving police response to a bank robbery.
The exercise involved the setting up of checkpoints and blocking forces, police intervention techniques and arrest of the suspects. — With Pete Laude