THE police suspects the robbery of a head guard of a security agency in Deca Homes in Barangay Tisa, Cebu City which resulted in the death of one suspect was a case of an inside job.
The Labangon Police Station recovered the cellular phone of former Staff Sergeant Jobie Antipolo, who had gone absent without official leave. He was killed during the robbery on Edwin Velos, the head guard of Sarsalejo Security Agency.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Police Colonel Gemma Vinluan said Antipolo was communicating with two other persons based on the text messages recovered from his cellphone.
“It may be an inside job. That is what we are focusing on. We got information in the cellphone and we are still validating its authenticiy. This could lead to whoever gave the information that the security guard was carrying a lot of money. It is highly unlikely that it happened by chance,” said Vinluan.
According to the witnesses, two people on a motorcycle were waiting for the victim, and they immediately pounced on Velos when he arrived.
Velos was hit in the back and was rushed to a hospital, where he is still in critical condition.
However, while the robbery was going on, another man also took out his gun and shot at the two robbers, leading to the death of Antipolo. His accomplice was wounded but still managed to grab the motorcycle of the victim.
The CCPO is still determining the identity of the second gunman as there are no CCTVs in the area.
“We are still trying to determine who shot the two,” said Vinluan.
Meanwhile, Antipolo had gone Awol in 2016 and based on his identification card recovered by Scene of the Crime Operatives, he was last active in 2017.
Vinluan said they will ask the Cebu Police Provincial Office why Antipolo still had an ID card of the Philippine National Police or whether he had just had it made.
Last week, a similar incident happened in Mandaue City, where a victim carrying payroll money was also robbed.
Mandaue City Police Office Director Police Colonel Jonathan Abella said they will check the CCTV footage to determine if Antipolo was also involved.
“We will check the CCTV footage, if the suspect has the same build because they both robbed their victims of payroll money,” said Abella. (AYB of Superbalita Cebu/ML)