Police arrest 'local contact' of Talamban parlor robbers

Teams of the City Police last night arrested at a checkpoint in Panagdait Road, barangay Kasambagan the alleged local contact of the three men who tried but failed to rob a beauty parlor in sitio Tigbao, Talamban last Thursday.

Gerrjan "alias Jan" Manago, a 25-year-old resident of Villa del Rio in barangay Talamban, was riding his car with a female cousin when arrested. He was a native of Aguada Street in Ozamiz City where his three visitors reportedly came from also.

Manago is now detained at the City Police pending further investigation of the case that might involved the three visitors of his house, the night before the robbery took place.

Sr. Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, City Police director, said the checkpoint was part of the manhunt of the robbery suspects that started at the house of Talamban's lupon tagapamayapa member Florentino Cano Jr., who was tasked by Mr. Manago to take care of the latter's visitors.

Cano, who also worked in Manago's lechon outlet in Talamban, was the one who called up Talamban barangay captain Nilo Tariman about the three "suspicious" visitors of Manago who arrived Thursday afternoon.

Tariman relayed the information to councilor Augustus Pe Jr. then called Sr. Insp. Claudio Casiban, of the Talamban Police station, about one of the men who might be hiding in the house of Cano.

Cano, and some witnesses, said the descriptions of the robbers that struck Jonas Borces Beauty Studio in Tigbao were similar to Manago's visitors.

If the robbers were Manago's visitors, Comendador said Manago could be the suspects' cohort since he was the one who gave them shelter, food and even vehicle to use for the staging of the robbery.

TRS chief, Sr/Inspector Alexis Relado, told reporters that during the interrogation, Manago admitted sending-off the two visitors to the Pier last Friday dawn where they would take a boat for Dumaguete City. He allegedly admitted that the two visitors slept in his car that night.

During Manago's arrest, police reportedly found a big plastic pack of suspected shabu estimated to be weighing five grams, and an identification card from the 5th Infantry Batallion stating that he is aPhilippine Army Reservist with a rank of Sergeant.

Police also recovered the getaway motorcycle of the "suspects" at the garage of Cano's house. Manago, when interviewed by reporters, denied about the illegal drugs but did not comment further on the robbery case implicating him as the local contact of the suspects.

Police also recovered the bag reportedly seen carried by one of the suspects. It contains a .38 caliber revolver loaded with six bullets, a .45 caliber pistol with seven live bullets, and three handcuffs.

Manago's lawyer, Salvador Solima, defended his client saying that the only fault that his client did was being helpful to the needy people who wanted to have a job.

Solima said Manago was a former manager of a popular softdrink branch in Ozamiz City and people there knew him to be helpful. He told reporters that Manigo did not know that the men who arrived from that city were "criminals."

During the robbery, one of the suspects, 57-year-old Rico Lumantas who was an alleged member of Military Intelligence Group 9 of the ISAFP based in Zamboanga City, was killed in a shootout with PO2 Antonio Din, of the MPG, who was having a haircut at the time of the robbery. - Edwin Ian Melecio/RAE