Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Wenceslao: Tough luck for Carcar robbers By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
RARELY does a situation like the one that presented itself in the Rural Bank of Cebu South Inc. heist in Carcar City occur. That is both an indictment on the planning ability of the robbers---Nelson Gutierrez Jr., Ricoly Igoy and company (still unidentified)---and a warning to those concerned. There is no assurance a similar situation will happen again.
Here are the factors that worked against Gutierrez et al:
l Wrong timing. One lesson there: Never do a robbery when a president visits. There is logic in it, one of which being that the police are on alert and extra-aggressive by then. Unknown to Gutierrez, et al, President Arroyo was supposed to visit the Theokos Center in Perrelos, Carcar City that Monday.
That’s only a few kilometers from the bank.
When the bank was robbed, Carcar was “swarming” with cops. Not only were elements of the Carcar Police Station around, so too some Regional Mobile Group and Special Reaction Unit personnel. Even Carcar Police Chief Teofilo Siclot was sober (broadcaster Bobby Nalzaro has been chiding Siclot for his alleged drinking woes).
0 Sloppy information gathering. Gutierrez and Igoy were former employees of Fredzon Furniture and Appliance Center whose sister firm holds fort across the street fronting Rural Bank of Cebu South. Meaning, the casing must have been done in front. The result: bank manager Webster Morales sneaked out using the uncovered back door.
l Too much daring. Robbers have gotten away in the past hitting targets a few meters away from a police station, but the law of averages was bound to catch up with them. Rural Bank was only less than a 100 meters from the police station. A huffing and puffing Morales reached that station in a short time. Cops responded in a short time, too.
l The SPO1 Melito Agadier factor. The popular “Die Hard” series made oodles of money out of the retelling of the story about criminals overlooking one tough hombre willing to muddle their best laid plans. In the Carcar heist, Gutierrez and Igoy failed to reckon with a policeman whom Siclot said is not the best shooter but is the more daring.
Thus, luck may have a hand there, as Gutierrez was shot while holding hostage a bank employee. If Agadier is not the best shooter, at least he does not get rattled easily. Guts drove him to shoot it out with the robbers. Guts made him fire at Gutierrez despite the possibility of hitting the hostage. The robbers overlooked one gutsy cop in Carcar.
This is not to play down the role of the 23 other policemen who responded to the robbery alarm. To be sure, all of them will get their promised rewards and awards from the Cebu Provincial Police Office and the Carcar City Government. But in every triumph there are always those who stand out because their acts inspire or provide some lessons.
Now to the warning. It is not often that robbers get sloppy, victims find ways to inform authorities while robbery is in progress, policemen are on alert and the better cops are in the correct situation at the right time. Not all of these factors will play out in the next heist. But the lessons are there. My hope is that all concerned will hold on to them.
