Cell phone gave him away

A police investigator with the eyes of an eagle and the memory of an elephant needed only one look at an entry in a cellular phone to know that it belonged to one of the country’s most wanted criminals.

The mobile phone was owned by a suspected member of the so-called Waray-Ilonggo kidnap gang arrested two weeks ago by intelligence agents of the National Capital Region Police Office.

NCRPO intelligence chief Senior Superintendent Luisito Palmera refused to identify the cellphone owner in exchange for the suspect’s cooperation with the police in going after other members of his gang.

Palmera said he got a big surprise when he saw the cellphone number of fugitive Faisal Marohombsar in the suspect’s mobile phone.

"I memorized the number (of Marohombsar) because I’m working round the clock to get him," Palmera said in an interview with The STAR.

Palmera eventually gained the suspect’s cooperation in tracking down Marohombsar through the mobile phone.

It was the big break that Palmera needed to bag Marohombsar and his cohorts, who escaped from detention at Camp Crame last June 19. Palmera subsequently coordinated with the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER) and the military’s Anti-Crime Task Force (ACTAF) for the operation to get Marohombsar.

A pre-operation tactical conference was later held at the NCRPO office in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig.

It was agreed during the conference that the Light Reaction Unit and the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police and the ACTAF would be used for the operation.

A final conference was held at the Philippine National Police Academy in Silang, Cavite before launching the raid on Marohombsar’s hideout in Magallanes town on Saturday night.

It appeared, however, that Marohombsar was apprised of the impending raid by local sympathizers, enabling him to flee before the lawmen arrived.

This led to overnight hot pursuit operations for the government forces, ending in Barangay Kaluangan in Magallanes where a five-minute shootout took place at about 7:30 a.m. yesterday.

The brief firefight left Marohombsar dead, while two of his followers, including a Magallanes policeman, were captured. Two others reportedly managed to escape.

Follow-up operations also led to the arrest of Marohombsar’s sister-in-law, identified as Ferdina Madira, in nearby Barangay Pacheco.

Still being hunted down were other members of Marohombsar’s group, among them Marine Sgt. Renato Ayson and a suspect identified only as "Bullet."