Another Laguna bank rob suspect arrested

Another suspect in the bloody RCBC robbery in Cabuyao, Laguna last May 16 is now under the custody of the Calabarzon police.

The suspect admitted acting as a “lookout” during the heist, which left eight bank employees, a security guard and a representative of a depositor dead.

Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., Laguna police director, said the suspect claimed he received a P400,000 share in the robbery which he used to purchase a motorcycle and cattle.

Rojas said the suspect was tracked down in Tanay, Rizal where he also gave part of his loot to a guest relations officer.

However, the Calabarzon police refused to reveal the suspect’s identity for fear of jeopardizing ongoing follow-up operations to get the remaining suspects in the bloody robbery.

According to Rojas, they would amend the robbery with multiple homicide case they filed before the Laguna prosecutor’s office to include the new suspect. 

He said there is a big possibility that the suspect would be admitted into the government’s witness protection program should the information he gave turned out to be positive.

“He is cooperating fully in our investigation of the case. He mentioned several names which we are closely working on,” said Rojas in an interview.

The suspect is presently in the custody of Task Force RCBC, which met yesterday with Calabarzon police director Chief Superintendent Ricardo Padilla to assess the ongoing follow-up operations on the case.

Rojas said neighbors reported to the police that they saw the suspect in Batangas carrying two bagfuls of money hours after the RCBC robbery.

“We conducted a background check against him and found that he has derogatory records. We closely monitored him until he was arrested in Tanay, Rizal,” he said.

The Calabarzon police kept the new suspect’s arrest under wraps and worked on the information he relayed to them. 

Padilla described the suspect as in his late 20s.

It was not known whether the five witnesses under the custody of Task Force RCBC have positively identified the suspect as among the robbers.

Police have filed charges against three other suspects, including a former Army soldier.