Bigtime robbery group in Cebu - police

CEBU, Philippines - A bigtime robbery group is reportedly in Cebu and is expected to pull a heist among establishments here over the holidays and during the Sinulog festivities, the chief of the Theft and Robbery Section of the Cebu City Police Office said yesterday. 

Sr. Insp. Michael Anthony Bastes said that based on intelligence reports, the group came from Mindanao and consists of five men. The group reportedly has staged a robbery in the city before.

Bastes said an informant cited the group in the city only yesterday morning, albeit the Mindanao police saying the group is still in Manila and is expected to be in Cebu during the Sinulog festivities next month.

Bastes said it is possible that the group came here earlier and is now conducting surveillance on different establishments for possible targets.

Bastes assured the city police are now monitoring the group closely and further assured that any possible robbery will be preempted. He said the CCPO has 200 force multipliers that will assist in patrolling major churches and parking lots.

With the start of Misa de Gallo tomorrow, Bastes called on residents in the city to secure their houses when they leave to attend the dawn mass. It has been an experience in the past that burglars also take this opportunity to break into houses.

The latest bigtime robbery group that entered Cebu was the Alvin Flores Gang whose leader, Alvin Flores, and three other cohorts were killed in an encounter with the operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation last October 29 in Compostela town.

Flores, reportedly a notorious and elusive robbery gang leader, was tagged as the mastermind behind the brazen robbery at Greenbelt 5 in Makati City where armed men stormed into a watch store. — Niña G. Sumacot/JMO   (FREEMAN NEWS)