Thursday, December 06, 2007 Police team that caught Aves to get medals, promotions By Jovy S. Taghoy Sun.Star Staff Reporter
MEDALS and a recommendation for spot promotions await the police operatives who arrested wanted fraternity man Aristotle Aves.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Ronald Roderos said during yesterday’s Talaka-yan sa Isyung Pulis (Tsip) forum that the medals will be awarded to Task Force Aves at 8 a.m. on Monday’s flag ceremony at the Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr. regional headquarters.
Roderos said he also ordered the Personnel and Human Resource and Doctrine Division, headed by Senior Supt. Vicente Loot, to draft a recommendation for Camp Crame on the possibility of giving spot promotions to some members of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).
He thanked Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña for offering the P300,000 cash reward that, in part, led to Aves’ arrest.
Aves, 26, is considered one of the most wanted persons in the city and ranked number one in Cebu City’s list of the 10 most wanted fraternity members .
He was arrested Monday night on board a vessel that had yet to leave Pier 8 in Mandaue City. His name has been linked to 17 crimes in the city, including the Oct. 4 drive-by shootings that left three people dead and injured four others.
It’s him
Angelito B. Reyes Sr., 42, and Benjamin P. Dilao, 41, who survived another fraternity-related attack last Sept. 21 in Barangay Parian, identified Aves as the gunman, according to an ABS-CBN “TV Patrol” report.
Reyes and Dilao said they clearly saw Aves’ face because the road where they were drinking and were fired at was well-lighted.
The police team headed by Senior Insp. George Ylanan, the task force head, and Supt. Pablo Labra II, CCPO deputy director for operations, also arrested Jesus Singson Jr., 27, of Subangdaku, Mandaue City.
Like Aves, Singson is also a member of Alpha Kappa Rho and was with the suspect during the operation.
While commendations will be given to the task force, Roderos, however, said he ordered the Maritime Police 7 to explain why Aves managed to board the vessel with a handgun.
CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador, in a separate interview, said his office and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) are also verifying information that Aves and Singson are involved in other crimes in Cebu Province.
Security cam
One of the heists that police believe can be traced to Aves and Singson was the robbery of a Shell gasoline refilling station in Subangdaku, Mandaue City last October.
Comendador said they are now coordinating with Senior Supt. Rodel Calungsud, Mandaue City Police Office director, for the CCPO to see the footage from the gasoline station’s security camera.
CIDG 7 Director Jose Jorge Corpuz, on the other hand, said they will also submit the .45 pistol the task force seized during the arrest, to determine if the same firearm was used in the ambush-slay of Japanese businessman Hiroshi Kusaka last month.
Ylanan, in a separate interview with reporters, confided that arresting Aves was not an easy task.
Since the creation of the task force in 2004, which was announced to the media, Aves had become very elusive, hiding and transferring from one place to another, Ylanan said.
Haste
Determination and patience helped, as the search even led them to parts of Mindanao. So did every bit of information, Ylanan said.
Ylanan revealed that the vessel Aves boarded for Ormoc City was supposed to leave the Cebu port at 9 p.m. but was delayed by a minor problem.
“They were welding something near the anchor, that’s why the trip was delayed,” Ylanan said.
The task force’s original plan was to raid a safehouse of Aves on D. Jakosalem St., Cebu City. But when they arrived and learned that Aves’ boat was leaving at 9 p.m., the team rushed to Pier 8.
“Bisan og libaong wala na mo-menor ang sakyanan (We didn’t even slow down for the potholes),” Ylanan said.
