Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Calderon presented to the media the seven suspects believed to be behind the recent robbery at the Gotesco Mall in Fairview, Quezon City.
Calderon ordered the Traffic Management Group (TMG) to conduct further investigation to identify other members of the gang and the group’s other robbery plans.
"I am certain that our policemen have foiled an attempt by these suspects to rob a bank nearby," Calderon pointed out, saying that there were at least three banks and rows of money changers where the first batch of five suspects were arrested in Pasay City.
Calderon said the suspects remain in PNP custody and are facing charges for car theft, illegal possession of firearms, and violation of the Omnibus Election Code.
Police identified the arrested suspects as Gerardo Bantay, 36, a mechanic, of Upper Bicutan, Taguig City; Roberto Montano,43, a fighting cock trader; Jessie Carno, 31, of Western Bicutan, Taguig City; Edemil Braga,28, of Zapote Road, Las Piñas City; Almar Celeste,24, of Western Bicutan, Taguig City; Reynaldo Columna,37, a taxi driver, of Sucat, Parañaque; and Rodolfo Javelona,49, a jeepney driver, of Sucat, Paranaque.
The suspected Ilonggo Group members were natives of Bacolod and Iloilo. Senior Superintendent Robert Ganzon, chief of the National Capital Region Traffic Management Office (NCRTMO), said the suspects were apprehended while they were aboard two stolen vehicles and caught in possession of a M-16 baby Armalite, an Ingram submachine pistol, and ammunition clips containing live rounds of the two high-powered firearms.
Ganzon said the first arrest was made at around 2 p.m. along the Domestic Road in Pasay City while personnel of TMG mobile unit 99 were patrolling in the area.
Operatives spotted a Toyota Vios with fake license plates XAR-810 and a fake Land Transportation Office validation sticker. The traffic cops flagged down the vehicle but on closer inspection, the passengers were found to be carrying high-powered guns. The suspects peacefully yielded to the authorities.
Further investigation revealed that the suspects have standing warrants of arrest for robbery and illegal possession of firearms and that the vehicle there were using had been seized from its owner at gunpoint last November along P. Tuazon Street in Quezon City. During a follow-up operation, police tracked down the two other suspects, Columna and Javelona, and nabbed them in an entrapment operations conducted by TMG men at around 1 a.m. along Paje Road in Bicutan, Parañaque City.