CCPO launches region-wide hunt for moneylender's killer

The Cebu City Police Office is now expanding its hunt outside Cebu against the man whom it believed to be a policeman behind the robbery-slay of a moneylender and her secretary over the weekend.

CCPO acting director Melvin Gayotin told reporters yesterday that they would expand their manhunt operation to Bohol, Siquijor and other provinces under the regional police office.

Since early this week, the Homicide Section held a series of police lineups of policemen from the CCPO and the Cebu Provincial Police Office for possible identification by witnesses of the killer.

The police lineups were based on a name that was reportedly uttered by one of the victims while being rushed to Velez Hospital.

Pilar Hernandez, owner of the PRH Lending Investment Inc., turned 62 years old the day she was killed together with her 55-year-old secretary, Wevina Pancho.

Gayotin said a police lineup is considered the best way of getting a crime suspect.

Five more CCPO members and four more policemen assigned outside Cebu will be presented before the witnesses. Most of the lending firm's clients were policemen under the regional police office.

Gayotin said if the police lineups would bear no fruits, they would re-start their investigation this time, analyzing the evidence and statements of the witnesses.

"Mas paspas unta ni nga process (police lineup) pero kung wala pa gihapon tay ma-pinpoint sa witnesses, magsugod na sad ta sa sinugdanan, back to square one kay no choice man ta," Gayotin said.

Gayotin admitted that the Regional Investigation and Intelligence Division is extending help to their investigation by giving them information on the case. But he said the families of the victims could approach other police investigating agencies should they want to.

Investigators could not yet determine how much was lost during the robbery but they believed that the robber carted away at least P500,000, the usual amount that Hernandez would carry during Saturdays.

They believed that the robber was a policeman based on witnesses' accounts and the empty shells of .9mm caliber recovered from the crime scene. Though some policemen were issued with other firearms, they commonly used the .9mm caliber for its safety features.

It has been known that Hernandez mostly caters to policemen in the region. - Edwin Ian Melecio/LPM