Rob gang member seeking barangay post arrested

MANILA, Philippines - A female member of the so-called Ampang Colangco robbery group, tagged as one of the 20 most notorious bank robbery syndicates in the country, was arrested in Tangub City, Misamis Occidental last Monday while campaigning for barangay chairwoman.

Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said his men cornered the suspect, Mary Ann Padillo Angcap, alias Nikki and Nicky, while she was on the campaign trail in Barangay Labuyo, Tangub City.

Bartolome said Angcap, who belonged to the core group of the Ampang Colangco robbery gang, became the third member of the syndicate to be arrested. The alleged gang leader, Roy Gilbert Colangco, alias Ampang, and another cohort, Edwin Ayop, are presently locked up in jail.

Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno directed Bartolome to account for the remaining core members of the Ampang Colangco gang before they could strike in Metro Manila and other parts of the country this Christmas season.

Puno ordered Angcap’s arrest following reports that she had filed her certificate of candidacy for chairwoman of Barangay Labuyo, despite an arrest warrant issued against her by the Bacoor, Cavite Regional Trial Court for the P1.5-million heist at the Bank of the Philippine Island’s Molino branch on Sept. 10, 2003.

Superintendent Remus Medina, head of the NCRPO’s regional police intelligence and operation group, said Angcap was aware of her arrest warrant but still decided to run for an elective post as she was confident that nobody would dare arrest her since her group was supposedly “well-entrenched” in Misamis Occidental.

Still at large, according to Bartolome, is a certain Renato Ayop, also a member of the syndicate’s core group who took part in the BPI-Molino heist.

Bartolome said the gang was also tagged in the heists at the Banco de Oro branch in San Fernando, Pampanga on Feb. 9, 2005; Asia Trust Bank branch in Ever Gotesco, Commonwealth in Quezon City on July 1, 2003; and the Prudential Bank Evacom branch in Parañaque City on Feb. 12, 2003.

Medina said Angcap was at the height of her campaigning when Chief Inspector Joselito Savares served the arrest warrant issued against her by Judge Matias Garcia of Bacoor RTC Branch 19.

Angcap asked to be brought to a hospital because of ulcer, apparently to delay her trip to Manila. But her attending doctor issued a certification that she was capable of traveling, thus she was subsequently released from the hospital and turned over to Savares’ custody.

Unable to prevent her transfer to Manila, Medina said Angcap’s camp offered a P500,000 bribe in exchange for her release. But Savares politely turned down the offer.

Savares said Angcap had her hair dyed apparently to alter her appearance.