2 suspects in Navotas rob-slay caught

Two of six robbery suspects who killed a security guard and a helper during a recent heist of a fishing company in Navotas have been arrested.

Navotas City police chief Superintendent Eric Reyes  identified the suspects as Albert Esgana, 22, and Zaldy de Real Batiancilla, 30, both residents of Barangay North Bay Boulevard North, Navotas.

Esgana, jobless, was arrested last Monday morning at his residence. He yielded P17,000 cash, which police said was part of the loot, while Batiancilla was caught Wednesday at his hiding place in Dagat-Dagatan, Caloocan City.

Witnesses tagged Esgana and Batiancilla as two of at least six men who robbed the Saint Joseph Group Inc. in Barangay North Bay Boulevard South at midnight Sunday. They allegedly stabbed security guard Noel Angeles and helper Nilo Castillo before fleeing with more than P70,000 cash and a laptop computer owned by Coney Buan, the company’s  manager.

Joe Al Quinagan Cortez, said to be the brains behind the robbery, is an employee of the fishing firm but was recently suspended for an unspecified offense. The police earlier theorized that the robbery was an “inside job” due to the absence of marks of forced entry at the crime scene.

Reyes’ men went to Cortez’s residence in Daet, Camarines Norte but failed to arrest him. They recovered several documents owned by the fishing firm inside a bag, which contained Buan’s laptop. The computer remains missing.

According to the arrested suspects, it was Cortez who knocked on the gate of the company and stabbed Angeles to death after he let him in.

Another suspect, Reynaldo Mendoza, helped Cortez in stabbing Angeles while a certain Toto Dacallos killed Castillo.

The group also includes another suspect, Toto de la Cruz.

Esgana and Batiancilla will be charged with two counts of homicide before the Navotas City prosecutor’s office.  – Pete Laude