Pangasinan mayor denies involvement in Greenbelt 5 heist
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 11/03/2009 10:48 PM
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MANILA - A town mayor in Pangasinan province has admitted on Tuesday knowing 2 of the suspects in the brazen noontime robbery in a posh mall last October but has denied involvement in the heist.
San Nicolas Mayor Leoncio Saldivar III admitted knowing Dennis Serquiza and Warlito Rodriquito who have earlier been tagged as suspects by police.
“Itong si Dennis Serquiña, pumapasok sa akin noon na security guard ko sa sa farm ko sa piggery. Di siya tumagal sa akim. 3 days lang umalis din. Ito namang si Warlito Rodriquito, utility natin dito sa munisipyo. Nagpaalam sa akin na sabi inaayos daw iyong kanyang claim sa kanyang dating nagging serbisyo sa Army,” Saldivar told ABS-CBN News.
Saldivar’s statements comes after police said they are investigating a local official's possible involvement with the notorious Alvin Flores robbery group which has been tagged as the group responsible for the heist at the Rolex watch store at Greenbelt 5 in Makati City. Alvin Flores, the alleged leader of the group was reportedly killed by police in an encounter in Cebu City last week.
National Police chief Director-General Jesus Verzosa announced on Tuesday that the local executive had allegedly provided protection for a member of the group who was wounded in a recent encounter with policemen.
Verzosa declined to name the elected official, who, according to reports, employed the Flores robbery gang member as his bodyguard.
A radio dzMM report, meanwhile, said there were also information gathered by police that the unnamed local executive also employed another member of the group, Armando Domingo, as a security guard at his piggery and cattle farm.
Domingo was slain by policemen during a shootout at Greenbelt mall in Makati City, where the gang entered and took expensive watches from a store.
Saldivar however denied involvement in the heist and instead said that he was even the one who convinced Rodriquito to surrender to authorities.
“Ang advise ko ay kailangang sumuko siya, bigay natin siya sa mga kinauukulan, pumayag naman kaagad,” said Saldivar.
The mayor of San Nicolas also assured that he will cooperate in any police investigation to clear his name and prosecute the group responsible for the robbery.
A third suspect, Rene Batiencela, meanwhile was charged with a case of robbery with homicide. He was the lone survivor after Alvin Flores and members of his alleged gang shot it out with agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who raided their alleged safehouse in Cebu..
The operation resulted in the killing of Flores during the encounter at the Tripina Ceneca Compound in Barangay Compostela last October 29. Three other members of the gang were also killed in the encounter, police said. Two of the fatalities were identified as Richie Hijapon and Mark Salamanca.
Law enforcement agencies, including the national police and the NBI, meanwhile have intensified manhunt operations against the members of the group. With a report from Gus Abelgas, ABS-CBN News
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