Wednesday, April 18, 2007 3 suspects name teacher as brains of pawnshop robbery By Jovy S. Taghoy Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Karlon N. Rama
ROBBERY complaints were filed yesterday against the three persons believed to have held up the Exquisite pawnshop in Pardo, Cebu City last Monday.
The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Theft and Robbery Section filed the complaints against Alex and Allen Ibaño and Caniboy Temple before the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor.
Their complaint was endorsed to Assistant City Prosecutor Simaco Labata for preliminary investigation.
Attached to the complaint is the joint affidavit signed by Insp. Michael Anthony Bastes, SPO3 William Alicaba, PO3 Jeffrey Diola and Raul Cosido, PO2 Justino Paragodos and PO1 Jovito Labra. They investigated the robbery.
Likewise attached was the joint affidavit of a pawnshop employee and the branch security guard.
The three arrested robbery suspects allegedly executed extra-judicial confessions identifying Alex Ibaño (not Evaño as earlier reported) as the mastermind.
However, the complaint, which was “noted by” Theft and Robbery Section Chief Alexis Relado, did not come with a copy of the confession.
The confession of suspected robbers Rolex E. Jaboc, 31, and Caramihan brothers Bernard, 28, and Alvin, 30, all from Negros Occidental, were made in the presence of their legal counsel Aquilino Felicitas Jr.
They also tagged Alex’s mother Allen, 58, and Caniboy K. Temple, 31, to be involved in the planning and providing logistics to carry out the crime.
Confession
In his confession, Jaboc said he arrived from Negros Occidental in the first week of April to look for a job and stayed with his wife’s sister in Campo Tres, Jaclupan, Talisay City.
Jaboc was the first one arrested by the police operatives an hour after the robbery at 8:05 a.m. and was the one who squealed on the identities of his cohorts.
He said that several days after his arrival, Alex, who resides near the house of his sister-in-law, befriended him and invited him to go to his house. It was during this meeting, Jaboc narrated, that Alex discussed his plan to rob the pawnshop.
Alex reportedly told him to look for two other trusted persons that would participate in pulling off the heist.
Jaboc said he sent text messages to the Caramihan brothers, who are his relatives, inviting them to come to Cebu “for work.”
Plan
When the brothers arrived in Cebu, Alex and his mother allegedly gathered them and Jaboc in the house of the Ibaños where they discussed the details of the robbery.
Jaboc said Alex and his mother also provided them the firearms used in the robbery.
Based on the plan, Jaboc said Alex will bring him and the Caramihan brothers near the pawnshop to carry out the robbery.
After pulling off the heist, the three would escape by riding a Colon-bound jeepney but would disembark a few meters away from the pawnshop, take a Talisay City-bound jeepney and proceed to the Ibaños’ house in Jaclupan.
This plan, however, did not materialize because the policemen were quick to respond to the alarm that led to the shootout. Jaboc allegedly pointed a gun at pawnshop security guard Dioscoro Madraga.
The Caramihan brothers also executed almost the same details in their judicial confessions.
Alvin Caramihan said he was the one who took the cellular phone of pawnshop appraiser Chuvelyn Jumao-as. He was also the one who grabbed Jumao-as and held her hostage, using her as a shield in fleeing from the area.
Illegal arrest
Bernard Caramihan, on the other hand, was the one who carried the portable vault where the jewelry and cash were kept.
Alex, in an interview at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) stockade yesterday, insisted on his innocence.
He insisted he had never met the Caramihan brothers and Jaboc. He said the first time that he saw the robbery suspects was when he, his mother and Temple were taken to the TRS office, where Jaboc and the Caramihan brothers were also present.
He said he already has a legal counsel who will help him question the “illegal arrest” made by the police.
Meanwhile, Acting CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador told reporters he will recommend to the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 to commend and give awards to the police operatives and civilians instrumental in the speedy arrest of the six suspects.
PRO 7 Director Silverio Alarcio Jr., in a separate interview, also commended the CCPO for their achievement. He said he is waiting for the recommendation of Comendador so that appropriate awards will be given to the operatives.
