TWO of the three suspects who robbed a Ceres Liner bus in Manapla, Negros Occidental Sunday night, November 5, were arrested in a hot pursuit operation the following day.
Senior Police Officer 1 Nilo Deypalan, assistant investigator of Manapla Municipal Police Station, identified the suspects as relatives Marco Parcon, 26, and Gabriel Constantino, 24, both of Barangay Tortosa.
Both suspects, together with their unidentified companion, boarded the bus in Silay City.
The bus driven by Glecerio Gao Jr. was on its way to Escalante City from Bacolod City.
Armed with unknown firearms and bladed weapons, the robbers declared a hold-up while threatening all passengers, the driver and conductor Narvin Tapang, in the area of Bangga Ibus, Barangay Tortosa around 7:45 p.m.
Only five of the passengers were robbed.
The suspects carted away the conductor’s fare collection amounting to P1,300 and his P900 cash; P4,300 cash and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card of Jason Baya, 21; cellular phone worth P5,000 and bag worth P700 of Dismond Magillano, 19; two cellular phones worth P10,000, bag, and P500 cash of Chrishell Mae Mahinay, 20; cellular phone worth P500 of Kevin Lumanoy, 37; and identification cards of Jhonvie Gallon, 26.
After the suspects disembarked, they left the passengers’ personal belongings beside a sugarcane plantation and these were recovered by police the following day.
Police also recovered a bullet of .45 caliber pistol on the bus.
Parcon and Constantino were sighted in a house, where they are staying for work, about 500 meters away from the national highway of the said village.
They were invited for interrogation at the police station, where they were positively identified by the bus conductor and one of the passenger-victims.
Parcon and Constantino are detained at the station and will face robbery hold-up charges.
Both denied the allegations against them.
Deypalan said they have no lead yet on the whereabouts of the other suspect.