Suspect in slay of gas station owner nabbed

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation arrested one of three suspects in the brutal robbery and murder of a Shell gasoline station owner in Pasig City last May.

Arrested by agents of the NBI’s Special Action Unit under Edmund Arugay was Faustino Gerona, alias Noel, 39, a house painter, of Block 16, General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite.

NBI agents arrested Gerona at his house after being tipped by an informant. He was later positively identified by several witnesses as one of the three suspects behind the heist.

According to the NBI, Gerona was among the three motorcycle-riding men who robbed and later shot to death gasoline station owner Virgilio Bordeos, 51, of 71 Louise St., Xavierville Subdivision, Quezon City on May 28. Bordeos died on the spot after sustaining a gunshot wound in the head.

The suspects then fled towards Antipolo City, taking with them an attaché case containing original land titles and other documents, which they took from the victim.

Initial police reports said that two of the suspects first entered the convenience store of the victim’s gasoline station located along Marcos Highway in Barangay Santolan at about 12:30 p.m. and pretended to buy a cell card.

The suspects then left and returned minutes later with revolvers. One of the suspects announced the heist as his two companions rushed to a room where Bordeos and his 14-year-old son, Virgilio Jr., had just entered. The victim tried to grab the gun from the suspect but was not in the process, according to witnesses. The suspects then grabbed the attaché case and left without harming the victim’s son. – Mike Frialde