FOR LACK of evidence, the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor has dismissed the robbery-in-band case filed against Jigger Geverola, the alleged mastermind behind the Oro Sugbo Pawnshop robbery in downtown Cebu City on Nov. 25, 2023.
Geverola was arrested by the Cebu City Police Office last Nov. 28, following the extra-judicial confessions of suspects Dann Carlo Geverola Flores and Jordan Ramos Baquiano.
The two suspects said Geverola had given them the order to take the old red Honda Civic car, which was used by the robbers as a getaway vehicle and hide it in the mountain of Argao.
On Monday, Dec. 18, the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the case against Geverola, saying there is no sufficient evidence.
It cited the Supreme Court, which said the crime in band is committed “when more than three armed malefactors take part in the commission of a robbery.”
Inquest
During the inquest proceeding last Dec. 1, Geverola opted to file a waiver of detention and asked that a preliminary investigation be conducted and was given 10 days to submit a counter-affidavit.
Geverola submitted his counter-affidavit on Dec. 11.
Geverola was mentioned in the affidavits of confession of Flores and Baquiano. They also identified Geverola in the police’s rogue gallery.
In the counter-affidavit submitted by Geverola, he denied his involvement in the robbery and stated that the confessions of Flores and Baquiano hold no evidentiary weight.
Alibi
Geverola claimed he could not have met Baquiano in Argao after the latter was doing surveillance on Nov. 21 since he was at Tagbilaran City securing the necessary clearances needed for the Bar examinations.
Geverola took the 2:30 p.m. trip back to Cebu City and arrived at his residence in Mambaling at 7 p.m. on the same day.
Recil Ersan Geverola, wife of Jigger, and Jeralyn Oca, Bar operations chairperson of Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma College of Law, executed their affidavit confirming Geverola’s story. Geverola is an alumnus of SWU-Phinma College of Law.
Geverola added that on Nov. 23, he was at the Cebu Provincial Capitol doing his duty as a job order employee.
Ruling from the prosecutor’s office recommends that the case against Geverola be dismissed and arresting officers be directed to release him from police custody.
The police earlier arrested four suspects in the Oro Sugbo Pawnshop robbery. Two of the four suspects arrested, Flores and Baquiano, were nabbed last Nov. 27 in Sibonga town at a police checkpoint.
The other two suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested in Mandaue City.