Suspects involved in crimes in RP’s five regions — PNP

Camp Gen. Oscar Florendo, La Union — A police official revealed yesterday that the 12 members of the notorious Bagis gang who were killed in a shootout with Pangasinan policemen Friday last week were involved in about 50 robberies and hold-up cases in five regions in the country.

Superintendent Agrimiro Cruz, head of the intelligence and investigation division of PNP-Pangasinan, also told newsmen that they welcome a thorough investigation of the case to prove that they were really behind the series of criminal activities here.

Cruz, one of the policemen who engaged in the alleged shootout, said he was already instructed by Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza, Pangasinan provincial director, to gather more evidence of the gangmembers’ activities in Regions 1, 2, 3, 4 and the Cordillera region.

Killed in the alleged encounter were Marine sergeant Rolando Franco, the alleged gang leader, Randy Raquino, Randy Franco, Silverio Gorio, Jun Mendez, Jolito Ponguis, Laurence Salanago, Gary Santos, Bong Villapando, Juanito Villar and two unidentified others.

Chief Superintendent Arturo Lomibao, PNP Region 1 director, lauded his men for a job well done, saying the members of the gang were neutralized even if they were heavily armed.

Mendoza said that the victims ignored the police warning for them to yield peacefully and preferred to shot it out with them instead, resulting in a shootout and the deaths of the gangmen.

The victims’ relatives are now seeking an investigation of the case.

This developed as a Pangasinan mayor commended the police for slaying the Bagis gangmembers, but said the police should have left at least one member alive for questioning to pinpoint the remnants of the group.

Sto. Tomas Mayor Antonio Villar Jr. said the police "deserve commendation but they should not stop because they are not yet very sure if the gang has been totally wiped out."

Villar said that based on the information they gathered, the gang operates in five regions which only "means that they have other group members left."

Mendoza said in an earlier interview that Bagis gang is composed of 15 members. They merged with another group and are believed to have increased to 30.

He described them as a "combination of very decisive criminal elements who kill with impunity." They are believed to have been operating in different provinces with the help of their local contacts.

Bayambang Mayor Leocadio de Vera Jr., whose relatives and constituents have been victimized by the gang, said he can now breath freely with the group’s neutralization.

He said those victimized by the gang came to Bayambang District Hospital where the cadavers of the suspects were brought for autopsy and paraffin tests to see for themselves if they were the same people who indeed committed the crimes.

Some of them pointed to the bodies and said "this is the one who pointed his Armalite rifle at me."

In Bayambang, three hold-up and robbery cases were attributed to the group — on March 22, Aug. 4 and Oct. 20 last year.