Valenzuela cops recommended for promotion

The killing of three robbers and the arrest of three others after a P300,000 robbery at a plastics firm in Valenzuela City last Saturday was due to the cooperation of the public with the police, Metro Manila police chief Director Edgar Aglipay said yesterday.

As this developed, Aglipay said he will recommend the spot promotions of policemen involved in the operations. He directed his deputy for administration Chief Superintendent Rowland Albano to work on the promotions of the policemen who "acted beyond the call of duty."

"It only shows that the active participation of the public against criminality bears fruit," said Aglipay in an interview.

Aglipay said that it was at the height of the robbery at the Ramos Plastics Manufacturing Co. located at 5037 Gen. T. de Leon Road, Barangay Ugong when a resident reported the heist through the police Hotline 117, a project of Interior Secretary Joey Lina. The operator immediately relayed the report to Valenzuela police chief Senior Superintendent Leopoldo Urena, who dispatched Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and uniformed policemen from the Police Community Precint 2 (PCP2) to act as blocking forces against the fleeing robbers.

Three of the robbers were killed in the succeeding shootout. They were identified as Edilberto Fabon, Anthony de Fausto Jr. and Rodolfo Silvano.

The arrested robbers were Teresito Muralla, 35, of Ireneville, BF Homes, Parañaque City; Editho Silvano, 25, of Pag-asa, Batasan Hills, Quezon City and Rodel Salud, 35, of 4th Street, Angeles City, Pampanga.They yielded a Colt .45 automatic pistol, a caliber .357 revolver, two caliber .38 revolvers, a fragmentation grenade and a fan knife. Urena said they also recovered the getaway vehicle of the suspects, a Toyota Tamaraw FX (PXL 336) parked near the crime scene.

One of the eight robbers entered the establishment at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and posed as a customer. Once inside, two others followed closely, pulled out their guns and announced the holdup, Herodutus Ramos, 50, the factory owner said.

Police said the robbers took the P300,000 payroll money of the firm, divested the employees of their jewelry and personal belongings before dashing out to escape. However, they were met and engaged in a shootout by the responding policemen along Sta. Monica St., also in Barangay Ugong.

Police are hunting down two other members of the robbery group, who could have fled with the loot.

The Metro Manila police chief also congratulated the Hotline 117 operator whom he refused to name for fear of reprisals.

He, too, gave his high regard to the informant. "I do hope residents of Metro Manila would emulate him (informant) so that we could solve more crimes in the future because of the public’s cooperation," said Aglipay.