TWO alleged “laglag-barya” thieves landed in jail after victimizing a nursing student inside a jeepney plying the 12-L route in Cebu City last Wednesday morning.
Ramil Dalman and Alexis Monreal, both 40, said they were friends with the three thieves in a viral video preying on a jeepney passenger last June 12.
They said they have no idea where Isidro Dabudo, Apolonio Tolibas and Rodel Gaban are now.
This, as five men led by a police officer allegedly robbed a house in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City yesterday dawn.
A man and two women asked for help from the police at 4:30 a.m. after five men introducing themselves as police officers allegedly entered their house.
Judith Gaviola, 54, Christian Neil Ruiz and Elizalyn Giducos identified the police officer as PO1 Rodgene Siquinio of the Mandaue City Police Station 1 in Barangay Centro.
The victims said the men came announcing a raid. When the victims asked for a search warrant, the men did not present any and got angry instead.
The victims, who went to the Police Station 5 in Barangay Opao, said the men took a Nokia cell phone worth P4,500, a Samsung cell phone worth P5,000 and another Samsung Galaxy phone of undetermined worth.
The robbers also fled with P280 cash.
Insp. Jimmy Fortes, chief of Police Station 1, said Siquinio denied the allegation and wrote a letter of explanation.
Fortes said he forwarded the letter to the Investigation and Detection Management Branch of the Mandaue City Police Office for an investigation.
They identified another suspect as Donde Commendador.
Report
In the laglag-barya incident, Chief Insp. David Señor, theft and robbery section chief of the Cebu City Police Office, urged jeepney passengers who fell victim to this type of crime to report to police.
The victims can identify the suspects in a rogue gallery, or a collection of mugshot photos of previously arrested criminals, at the station.
Señor also urged commuters not to pick up any coin dropped by a fellow passenger.
Coin
“If a coin is dropped, ignore it and keep hold of your phone or anything that has value,” Señor said.
Troy Jeric Cabreros, first year nursing student, lost his iPhone 5S worth P30,000 from Dalman and Monreal, who allegedly used the “laglag-barya” technique on him when they reached the Fuente Osmeña Circle at past 7 a.m.
When the suspects alighted from the vehicle, Cabreros went to Police Station 2 on Osmeña Blvd. and reported the incident.
He was later referred to the Theft and Robbery Section office on Osmeña Blvd., where he identified the suspects in the rogue gallery.
Dalman and Monreal, known to police as fishermen aside from being thieves, were later nabbed in their community in Sitio Libo, Barangay Mohon, Talisay City at 10:00 p.m.
Dalman and Monreal also allegedly tried to victimize a university professor in a jeepney that plied the Barangay Tabunok, Talisay City to Barangay Basak in Cebu City route on the same day.
Kristian Caumeran, professor at the University of San Jose-Recoletos, told Sun.Star Cebu that when he opened his palm to receive the coins Dalman handed to him, some of those were deliberately dropped.
“To make sure somebody will sit beside him, he also blocked my shoes so I can’t move,” Caumeran said.
He later realized that when Dalman handed loose coins as his payment to the driver, there were a few coins hidden between the suspect’s palm and ring finger.
The coins were positioned that way to ensure that some of the coins will be dropped, Caumeran recalled.
“What you receive is the visible coin. When they drop it, you will not catch the hidden coins,” Caumeran said.