Slain Navotas gunmen identified

Police named yesterday the two robbers killed at the Navotas Fish Port Complex robbery last week, which was perpetrated by at least 20 heavily armed suspects.

Senior Superintendent Eric Reyes, Navotas City police chief, identified the fatalities as Jack O’Mar Cabal, 25, native of Misamis Occidental, and Allan Ferrer, 43, a resident of Pililla, Rizal. Police found it hard in naming the slain suspects for they don’t have any identification papers and their relatives did not immediately claim their bodies from the funeral parlor.

With their identification, Task Force Dolfin, which is composed of teams from the local police, the Northern Police District, the Maritime police, and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, is now closing in on the gunmen’s main group.

Task Force Dolfin was created by National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Leopoldo Bataoil to hunt down the gunmen that robbed a roving bank teller of P211,000 inside the Navotas fish port on Nov. 23.

Armed with M14, M16 and sniper rifles, the robbers entered the fish port complex in four vehicles at around 1:30 a.m. through a private gate. They stayed inside for more than two hours before robbing the roving bank teller of his collection.

PO1 Leonardo Lepardo, who sidelines as a fish trading firm security escort, engaged the suspects in a gunfight killing Cabal and Ferrer.

The gunmen fled with the loot but wounded at least five persons during the shootout.

Arfil Catipay, the fish port complex security officer, said stringent safety measures have been put in place within the compound. Close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras were installed in four private gates, a 24-hour foot patrol was revived, security personnel were doubled and equipped with modern telecommunications, a police patrol car was deployed within the complex and darkened alleys were lighted.              – Pete Laude