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Wednesday, February 03, 2005
P100T offered to nab robbers
CEBU CITY -- A reward of P100,000 is being dangled for anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest of East West bank robbery suspect Rey Torres, who was linked to at least two other robberies in Cebu last year.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is ready to give this amount to solve the robbery that cost East West Bank on Archbishop Reyes Ave. close to P500,000.
Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem said the mayor will set aside the amount from his P3-million intelligence fund, which President Arroyo approved two weeks ago.
A criminal complaint for robbery was filed yesterday with the Cebu City Prosecutor's Office against one of the four men allegedly behind the heist last Monday noon.
Jemar Mansalinog, however, signed a waiver of detention and asked that he be given the chance to dispute the charges through a formal preliminary investigation.
He has 10 days to submit a counter-affidavit.
Caught on cam
In the meantime, Mansalinog was returned to the custody of the Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (CIIB), the investigating arm of the Cebu City Police office's anti-robbery task force, Oplan Universe.
The CIIB is now conducting background checks on Mansalinog and his uncle Torres, the robbers' suspected ringleader.
Mansalinog was also caught on a security camera at a convenience store in the Caltex gasoline station in Banilad during the robbery of a company collector last Jan. 4.
Santiago Olivar, 42, a collector and errand boy of Wam Manufacturing and Development Inc. in Cabancalan, Mandaue City, sought cover at the gasoline station after he was shot once in the back by motorcycle-riding robbers in Banilad, Cebu City.
The robbers fled with $14,000.
Warrants
CIIB Chief Pablo Labra II said initial information he gathered from Inspector George Andam, chief of Magsaysay Police Station in Zamboanga del Sur, showed that Mansalinog and Torres have standing warrants of arrest for a robbery case in Mindanao.
Apart from carrying the names Jemar Torres Mansalinog and Rey Torres, the two suspected members of a robbery gang have also used the names Jonard Saladaga and Roel Torres, respectively.
Mansalinog was identified as Torres' right-hand man.
A check at the Mandaue City Police Office also showed that Torres and Mansalinog were among the suspects in the robbery of Lambert Manufacturing last year, Labra said.
Torres was identified by witnesses as the first one who entered the East West Bank and disarmed security guard Sergio Dacles of his shotgun.
He was arrested last Sept. 15 for robbing a collector of P150,700, but was able to post bail. He was also tagged in the robbery of couturier Jed Sevilla last December.
Positive ID
Mansalinog, on the other hand, was picked up by CIIB operatives in his rented house in Paknaan, Mandaue City last Monday afternoon, a few hours after the East West Bank heist.
In an affidavit, one Leonardo Gomez identified Mansalinog as the driver of one of the getaway motorcycles.
"I could never be mistaken in identifying him because the incident happened in broad daylight and he was not far from me. I saw his face directly for minutes and I saw his movement from the time he sat on his motorcycle until he started/cranked the motorcycle and sped off with two decent-looking persons as riders," Gomez said.
Gomez said he was eating beside the bank minutes after the robbery. He noticed two motorcycles parked five to six meters from where he was eating.
Mansalinog, he said, was riding one of the two motorcycles, a red TMX Honda, and looked as if he was waiting for somebody.
Gomez said he gave the police a description of the man he saw and, a couple of hours after the incident, was called to the CIIB office to identify a suspect in a lineup.
Mayor waits
He identified the motorcycle driver who subsequently answered to the name Jemar Mansalinog.
Mayor Osmeña is offering the P100,000 reward, as an elite police force that will go after suspected criminals will only be operating two to three months from now.
Osmeña told a press conference Wednesday that the crime suppression team is facing logistical problems and is still securing uniforms, vehicles and communications equipment.
The team, which Osmeña created to "permanently disable" lawless elements, still needs a police official to lead its 28 members.
The mayor reiterated that measures will be taken so the team members' movements can be monitored by the City Government.
"They will not just be on their own," he said. (RHM/KNR/JST/With CPL of Superbalita)
(February 3, 2005 issue)
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