Bus robber falls; cops nab driver, conductor

Makati policemen have arrested a suspected holdup man as well as a bus driver and his conductor in connection with a series of robberies targeting passengers of buses in southern Metro Manila.

First to fall was Paul Viscayan, who was nabbed shortly after he and a companion held up a JMK aircon bus.

Earlier this week, the suspects announced a holdup inside a bus in Pasay City and divested passengers of their cellular phones, cash and other valuables.

After the suspect got off the bus in Magallanes, the victims gave chase and eventually caught Viscayan.

The suspect, after being turned over to the Makati Police Department (MPD), admitted that they often pull off the heists with the help of the driver and the conductor of the bus, whom he later identified as Dean de los Santos and Ricky Abrera.

Senior Inspector Gary Reyes and his team immediately launched a follow-up operation which took them to the province of Bulacan.

"We arrested the driver De los Santos and his conductor Abrera in Sta. Maria, Bulacan," Reyes told The Star.

He said his men are now hunting Viscayan’s companion, identified as Bert Bugovilla, also a bus driver.

Several bus robbery victims showed up at the MPD yesterday and positively identified Viscayan as the man who held up a Greenstar aircon bus last Jan. 21 near the Susana Heights tollgate of the South Luzon Expressway.

Reyes said the arrest of Viscayan, De los Santos and Abrera proves some bus drivers and conductors are in cahoots with robbers.

"We have now confirmed that some bus drivers and conductors are engaged in criminal activities," he said.

Reyes said the suspects will be charged with robbery before the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office.