Hitman in attacks on MMDA, DPWH executives nabbed

MANILA, Philippines – Northern Police District (NPD) intelligence agents arrested the alleged hitman in two high-profile attacks on government officials during an operation in Cavite Saturday afternoon.

NPD director Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr. identified the suspect as Chivas Gerona, 23, alias Philip Miranda, native of Bicol and a resident of Barangay Kabilang Baybay in Carmona, Cavite.

Gerona, known in RPA-ABB as “Sniper,” was arrested by the NPD police officers led by Chief Inspector Jerome Balbontin at a parking lot of a mall in Molino, Bacoor, Cavite at around 7 p.m. while about to purchase a handgun from a police agent.

“We have been conducting surveillance operations on Gerona’s whereabouts for almost a month now and on Saturday evening we were able to lure him out of his hiding place when he wrongly contacted a police agent for a gun purchase,” Balbontin told The STAR.

The suspect’s three companions, Manjit Singh, Kumar Sanjeev and Singh Gurnam, all Indian nationals, were also arrested. 

Gerona has a standing warrant of arrest for murder and frustrated murder for killing Metro Manila Development Authority ((MMDA) operations chief Roberto Esquivel’s driver, Johnny Agbay, and wounding Esquivel’s son, Micko, during an ambush in San Pedro, Laguna last Feb. 2.

Police said the original target of the ambush was Esquivel, but the MMDA official was not in his car when waylaid by a group of armed men that reportedly included Gerona.

According to Balbontin, Gerona and his group were also responsible for the ambush-slay of Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Ramon Aquino last March 11 at the DPWH main office in Port Area, Manila.

“A witness was able to identify Gerona as one of the armed men in Usec. Aquino’s killing,” Balbontin said.

Balbontin said Gerona belongs to the dreaded Gerona crime gang of Cavite, a well-entrenched gun-for-hire group reportedly composed mostly of close kin of the Geronas.

Superintendent Ferdinand del Rosario, NPD police community relations chief, said the suspect belonged to a Revolutionary Proletariat Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade faction that “turned to gun-for-hire activities” when he broke up with the organization.

Gerona, in an interview with The STAR, admitted being a former member of the the RPA-ABB Southern Tagalog Command.

“But I left the organization more than a year ago for I wanted to lead a new life. I was never a part of any criminal activity since then,” he said. He denied involvement in the Esquivel and Aquino cases.

Gerona said he worked in Dubai as a security guard for a year and returned to the country only last January.

Del Rosario, however, said Gerona is a “confirmed member of a gun-for-hire gang and definitely he is involved in several other cases.” – With Non Alquitran