A taxi driver who helped Pasig police identify suspects in the robbery of a Jollibee outlet in the city last Sunday received a plaque of appreciation and cash reward from President Arroyo at Malacañang yesterday.
The taxi driver, whose identity was kept secret for his own protection, was presented to Mrs. Arroyo by Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director Reynaldo Velasco and Pasig police chief Superintendent John Sosito at 2 p.m. yesterday.
The taxi driver was not presented to media either, to prevent any possible attacks on him and his family by the identified robbery suspects and their cohorts who have eluded arrest.
The plaque and cash reward are part of the incentives the President has put in place to encourage the public to report crimes and the presence of criminals and crooked policemen in their neighborhood. This is the President’s contribution to the "Magic Eye" tipster program put into motion by Velasco which aims to build better police-community cooperation in crime prevention and crime solving.
The "Magic Eye" program hotline number is "117."
Citizens can take an active part in the PNP’s battle against crime by calling this hotline to give the police information that may be vital in preventing or combating crime and earn cash rewards if the information leads to the arrest of criminal elements.
The taxi driver was apparently aware of the police informants’ program, because he called up the "Magic Eye" hotline and told police he witnessed the Jollibee robbery. The cabbie said he saw 10 heavily armed men divesting the cashier and customers of the fastfood joint of some P250,000 worth of cash and personal belongings.
Unfortunately, the robbers had already made good their escape when Sosito’s men arrived at the scene of the heist.
Despite the suspects’ escape, the taxi driver positively identified three of the suspects from mug shots in the police rogues’ gallery: Bobby Imperial of 216 Atis st., Napico, Pasig City; Alcher Dialino of Lot 14 Block 4, Villanueva St., BF Subdivision, Las Piñas City, and Jesse Calda of 87 Roxas st., Tondo.
Sosito said Dialino and Calda were positively identified by witnesses as those who played key roles in the Jollibee heist.
The National Capital Region Police Office issued a press statement yesterday saying the three robbery suspects had been arrested. However, NCRPO spokesman Superintendent Julius Abanes called up reporters an hour later admitting the NCRPO’s lapse — none of the suspects have been arrested yet.
The NCRPO press release said the suspects were arrested on the strength of arrest warrants issued by the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 38. The NCRPO statement also said the suspects identified by the cabbie were in the custody of the Pasig City police pending the filing of criminal charges against them.
Velasco ordered a relentless manhunt for the robbery suspects: "I want the whole group neutralized. We do not want them roaming around and searching for more people to victimize," he said.
The NCRPO chief also called on the robbery gang’s other victims to surface and file additional charges against the suspects "so they will rot in jail."