A series of robberies involving a grassroot- oriented lending company has alarmed Police Senior Supt. Edgardo Ingking, provincial director of the Philippine National Police, that he warned of more incidents if opportunity remains a tempting option for suspects. The provincial police director's warning came on the heels of the successful busting of a notorious robbery gang that resulted in the arrest of its members following a daylight heist of the Bank of Commerce Tagbilaran branch. The bank was held up by the dreaded Garcia Robbery Gang last August 28 carting away P90,000 in cash. All but one of the six gang members are now in police custody. They were arrested one after the other in separate operations days after they pulled off the bank robbery. A gang member identified as Cresencio Reguya, 37, of San Miguel town, is still recuperating at the Gallares Memorial Hospital after he was wounded in a shootout with bank security guards. One guard, Remegio Cañizar, was killed in the shooting that erupted between the bank's security forces and the robbers.
TSKI
Banking on the euphoria of the police success in busting the robbery group, Supt. Ingking, true to his pro-active background, warned the Taytay sa Kauswagan, Inc. a lending firm catering to small-time borrowers to be careful in its collection and release of company funds. The police director noted that in a span of eight months, the lending outfit was victimized in as many times or an average loot of P12,000 per month. As part of the PNP's pro-active approach, Supt. Ingking called a meeting between the assistant branch manager and the chief of the PNP investigation section to discuss the series of robberies. It was last February. The meeting was also aimed to come up with measures to prevent future robbery incidents. Supt. Ingking also appraised the lending firm of the opportunity created by its collectors in their collection efforts in the remote barangays. Supt. Ingking said even the information regarding where and when the collectors are going to collect the weekly installments are easily accessible to anyone interested to know about it. The local PNP recommended the following measures to eliminate opportunities for TSKI collectors to be victimized by robbers: Payment of weekly installment by individual clients should be made at branch offices instead of having it done in the remote barangays; and money to be deposited to the bank from the branch offices should be delivered in an armored car. Supt. Ingking's warning on TSKI came after the arrest of two suspects in Sagbayan last Thursday. Since most of the TSKI robberies took place in the remote barangays of northern and central Bohol , it was earlier believed that the two suspects were responsible to the string of hold-ups involving the lending firm. It turned out to be a false alarm as the two suspects identified as Ralph Neil Jan Epanto alias Raprap, 20 and Romil Dawatan y Tabora alias Ramram, 19 and all residents of Midsayap, North Cotabato , were only responsible to at least two robberies in Sagbayan. Seized from their possession at the time of their arrest was a 38 cal. revolver. They are now detained at the Sagbayan PNP jail.
Meanwhile, the Boholano population was jolted last Tuesday with the news that a member of the Garcia Robbery Group was gunned down through questionable circumstances after he was released from the Cebu City Jail. He just posted bail for his temporary liberty when he was killed by two motorcyle riding assailants. Killed on the spot was Rodulfo”Dupong” Atega, 21 of Poblacion,San Miguel town. He was still clutching his discharge sheet from the Cebu City Jail when shot at. He died on the spot. Booked for his participation in the robbery hold-up of the La Nueva Supermart in Cebu City , Atega was killed at the corner of Gen. Maxilom and Jakosalem Sts. during a traffic stop light. He was with his father, brother and girlfriend on board a taxicab. Although he was said to be a member of the robbery gang headed by Casimero “Meloy” Garcia, he was not among those who held up the Bank of Commerce Tagbilaran branch. .According to Atega's father, Rodulfo Sr. they hailed a cab driven by Cerelino Alcordo, 35, and asked him to take them to Pier 3 where they planned to catch a boat bound for Talibon town. Alcordo, who drove the Vans System taxi, said that when they reached the corner leading to the Redemptorist Church , his passengers panicked and told him to drive faster. Rodulfo Sr. said they noticed two men on a motorcycle following them, which was why they wanted Alcordo to lose them. They would have gone straight down Gen. Maxilom Ave. to proceed to the pier area. But since his passengers were already rattled, Alcordo turned right to a gasoline station and took a shortcut to D. Jakosalem St .
Target
He would have gone faster, but oncoming vehicles forced him to slow down, allowing the two men on the motorcycle to catch up. The motorcycle passenger leapt and proceeded to the left side of the taxi, while the driver drove to the right side. Atega was seated at the leftmost side of the cab, behind the driver. When the first shots were fired, Alcordo said all he could do was pull up the handbrake and run for his life. “The gunshots were so loud, all I did was cover my ears,” he said in Cebuano. Everyone else also panicked and fled, except Rodulfo Sr., who was in the front seat. “I had difficulty opening the door. Everyone fled, even the driver. When I looked back, he was dead,” Rodulfo Sr. said. Atega suffered two gunshot wounds in the head. The assailants quickly fled to D. Jakosalem St . No one was able to see their faces as they both wore crash helmets. Asked who he thought was behind the killing, Rodulfo Sr. said he was sure it was connected to his other son's death. Harris Atega was shot dead along Tormis St. , Barangay Sambag 1, Cebu City last Jan. 10. Harris had been mistaken for a field training policeman. Rodulfo Sr. said that even before Harris was buried, someone sent Atega a text message, telling him he would be next. However, he is not sure why someone wanted his sons dead. “It would have been better if we did not post bail),” Rodulfo Sr. said in Cebuano. Police are considering the possibility that Atega was killed by the group of Albert Almedilla alias Way Sala, who was earlier tagged by Atega as the one who killed Harris. Almedilla allegedly belongs to the Roy Fernandez robbery band, of which Harris was said to be a former member.
‘Cohorts'
Fernandez and Alme-dilla were among the cohorts mentioned by robbery group leader Cre-sencio “Bruts” Reguya when he was arrested in Tagbilaran City last Aug. 28. Atega was arrested in his house in San Miguel town by a four-man team from the Cebu City Police Office last Aug. 29 based on a warrant for robbery issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Fortunato de Gracia. Atega's capture was made less than 24 hours after the arrest of robbery group leader Casimero “Meloy” Atega and three other members identified as Reguya, a former civilian military volunteer, Gilven Nuez and Sofronio Remoreras. Atega had denied involvement in any of the robberies implicating him as one of the perpetrators. He also denied being a member of the Casimero Garcia Robbery Group. Atega said it was not him but his brother Harris who belonged to the group.
Same style
It was Garcia who informed him and his family about the killing of Harris, Atega had said when he was presented to reporters. Monilar observed that the manner of execution was similar to that of Brando Babao, who was shot dead after posting bail last July 24. He said it is likely that the killers of Babao and Atega belong to the same group. “The way it (Atega killing) was executed shows that the shooter was very skilled,” Monilar said. Rodulfo Sr. said his son took a nautical course in this city but stopped because he began drinking with friends he met at school. Atega also took up a care-giving course but stopped again after Harris was killed. Rodulfo Sr. said his son was never involved in robberies.
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