Saturday, February 23, 2008 Police note security lapses in lending firm robbery
BECAUSE of the number of robbery cases he is linked to, Doroteo Imperial may soon be on the list of most wanted persons in Cebu City.
That is if a recommendation from the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) is approved.
Theft and Robbery Section Chief Michael Bastes told reporters that Thursday’s heist on A1 Financial was Imperial’s sixth robbery in Cebu City.
Bastes said he already told Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau Chief George Ylanan about the suggestion, to which Ylanan said they will meet with CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador and Deputy Director Pablo Labra II.
Ylanan, in an interview over radio dyHP, said this would depend on Imperial’s participation in these six heists.
Imperial, former security guard Danilo Flores and a still unidentified companion were tagged as responsible for last Thursday’s robbery.
Imperial has been associated with heists committed by the group of Rey Torres and Danny Limotan, while Flores has been identified as a member of the Meloy Garcia Robbery Group.
Imperial was linked to a robbery on June 15, 2004 in Purok Camput-haw; a heist pulled on a moneychanger on May 3, 2005; an airline ticket office on Feb. 3, 2007 with Roldan Villanueva; the Anchor Savings Bank three days after; and a bank collector a week after that.
As for Flores, he was the former security guard of the La Nueva Supermarket who was identified as one of the robbers in a heist last August.
Asked how they were able to team up for this heist, Bastes theorized that another gang member may have introduced them.
He pointed out that the Meloy Garcia Robbery Group used to work for a man identified as Roy Fernandez in kidnap-for-ransom activities in Manila. Fernandez, he said, hails from Mindanao, where Torres’ gang is from.
Bastes also has a feeling that A1 Financial will not be the last establishment to be robbed.
Warning
He received word that another suspected robbery gang member Junard Saladaga was arrested by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Pagadian City and that they need bail money for him.
Bastes revealed that Saladaga’s sister paid him a visit last week and asked for a list of all his cases and for the bail bond recommended.
He believes they need more money to bail Saladaga out, and wants the public to be wary in case another robbery is pulled in Metro Cebu.
Regarding the lax security, Bastes said all they can do is encourage establishments to follow their suggestions.
Tip
As to the possibility of this group being behind the robbery pulled on the Mactan Rural Bank last month, Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Carmelo Valmoria declined to say.
“There has been a positive development in the investigation but I do not want to jeopardize it by disclosing the personalities involved,” he told reporters yesterday.
In the meantime, he said they continue to coordinate with banks and other establishments, and that they have not received information of a robbery group planning to strike somewhere in the province.
“Nevertheless, we always remind our chiefs of police because we do not know when they are going to hit,” he said. MEA
