“Boac Gang” behind series of robs, slays

THEY break every law, leave their victims at least broken and dead.

Acting true to form, the dreaded “Boac Gang” has succeeded in sowing fear among Boholanos, pouncing upon unsuspecting victims, brandishing guns and never hesitating to pull the trigger to kill. And still they continue to evade the dragnets spread by police and military intelligence operatives.

Floated as disbanded after the capture of five of its members in Talibon sometime last year, the armed robbers, rapists and gun for hire still continue to mock authorities, piling highway robberies after the other and gainfully putting police authorities clueless as to their whereabouts.

“Boac Gang” came to notoriety after hitting numerous targets in the third district and killing them. Their hits were capped by a robbery with murder of a Landbank collector in Camanaga, San Miguel in 2005. Boac members were also linked to politicians who were allegedly using their services as bodyguards during the past elections. Last week, the group again dealt nightmares to six innocent vacationers from Mindanao. The six along with the driver of the motorela they were riding were negotiating a slight bank when robbers who were hiding by the roadside pounced on them, about 10 pm last May 7 in Guindulman.

The victims were identified as Maximiano Sarasa, the motorela driver, Teodoro Jandayan Sr., 53; his son Teodoro Jr., Nila Limbaga, 55, Leonilo Acilo, 19, Jessica Tenio and Angelica Tenio. Initial reports at Camp Dagohoy revealed that the victims had just disembarked from a boat that docked in Jagna town from Cagayan de Oro. They missed the bus so they decided to take a motorela driven by Sarasa because they did not want to spend the night in Jagna.

The ride was uneventful until they reached Sitio Pugaling, Barangay Basdio in Guindulman. As the vehicle was slowly negotiating an uphill climb, the suspects suddenly emerged from the shadows in a deserted spot. The three men who were all armed with short handguns declared a hold-up after blocking the path. The driver initially refused to heed the order, prompting one of the suspects to fire once. Fortunately for him, the bullet narrowly missed his head. As soon as the vehicle stopped, the suspects immediately divested the victims of their valuables. The victims lost jewelries, cash of still undetermined amount, cellular phones and other valuables. In an interview with Station DyTR, PO3 Giovanni Olaso of the Guindulman PNP said the caper could be the handiwork of the dreaded “Boac” gang.

The Boac gang has been blamed for the series of unsolved highway robberies in different towns in Bohol. So far, the police been has met with limited success in identifying the members of the gang. Sketchy information reaching the Post said that Boac Gang is still keeping a mobile base, but is usually sallying forth from Carmen, Bohol . Police intelligence did not confirm this however. “Boak Gang” is notoriously a break-away group from a band of brigands headed by the equally notorious Balatero brothers. They took the other path to the easy money venture after realizing that the group have become to many to partake in their hits. This was confirmed to the Post by an insider information leaked by a former member, now state-witness. Moreover, the source said that the band has also accepted members who were not Boholanos and who each had own agenda to pursue. The source said some gang members planned hits without coordinating with group, which at times jeopardized other equally high profile operations. Hits here mean cash from simple snatching, forcing upon things, burglaries, hold-ups, robberies with murder.

Then operating in the second district of Bohol while the Balatero group hit random targets in the Third District, Boac took to similarly lucrative business of sowing fear by murdering their victims. The murders were done to cover the tracks and the tightly guarded identity of its members.

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