MANILA, Philippines - Quezon City had its share of high-profile cases, ranging from a sensational extortion controversy to a brazen daylight mall robbery that tested the local police, in 2012.
When robbers targeted a delivery of cash to two branches of a moneychanger shop at the Robinson’s Galleria in March, they left a security guard dead and six others injured.
When the heist happened, Chief Superintendent Mario dela Vega had barely warmed his seat after taking over as director of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) from Chief Superintendent George Regis in February.
Witnesses pointed to at least six armed suspects, some of them waiting outside the mall on Ortigas Avenue, where a grenade was lobbed as they escaped with P14 million.
Dela Vega had earlier pointed to similarities between the Ortigas mall heist and a foiled robbery targeting an armored van at Alabang Town Center in Muntinlupa – a link that would later be established with the arrest of the suspects.
A month after the robbery, policemen arrested Willy Enriquez and Erenio dela Cruz in a rebel-infested town in Iloilo.
Enriquez had been arrested for another robbery at another branch of the same moneychanger shop in Pasay in 2010. His mugshot was what was shown to witnesses in the Robinson’s Galleria robbery.
Witnesses identified another suspect, Roger Solapco, through the rogues’ gallery. Another suspect, Alexander Montenejo, was seen staking out at the mall before the heist. Solapco and Montenejo remain at large.
Band of robbers
Of all the robbery suspects the police dealt with this year, those said to be led by convicted bank robber Ricky Cadavero hogged the headlines the most. The Ozamis Gang was named because many of its alleged members are believed to be from Ozamis City, Misamis Occidental.
Cadavero was convicted in 2011 for participating in a robbery at a branch of Land Bank of the Philippines along West Avenue in 2008.
In October, Dela Vega’s men arrested five of the gang’s alleged members at a rented house in Cubao. The five suspects were identified as Carlo Sanchez, Michael Dupor, Roger Gallego, Liza Singson and Angeline Antonio. A number of them were tagged in a string of robberies in the city and other parts of Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
With the arrest of the five suspects, QCPD officials told The STAR they had foiled a planned armored van robbery in Manila – believed to be planned by Cadavero, who was then at large.
This was based on text messages supposedly sent by Cadavero to Sanchez, providing details like the schedule of the van’s delivery and the number of persons carrying the money.
Soon after, policemen arrested Cadavero and his partner, Wesley Adelan alias Fe Tolentino, at a hideout in Cavite.
Another member of the gang, Ramil Espera, was also arrested. Espera spilled the beans on the group’s operation, naming at least 22 alleged members and their specific participation in at least 16 heists this year. Among these were the robberies at Robinson’s Galleria and Alabang Town Center.
On Dec. 8, Cadavero was snatched by armed men from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa. As of this writing, he has yet to be recaptured.
‘Kotong’ cop meets match
A member of the QCPD, Senior Police Officer 4 Jose dela Peña, received much criticism after he was accused of extorting money (kotong) from the son of the chief of the National Capital Region Police Office back in September.
The appointment of then Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina (he had since been promoted to the rank of Director) as head of Metro Manila’s police force had just been announced when his own 22-year-old son was victimized allegedly by Dela Peña.
Earlier reports indicated that Dela Peña was with PO2 Resty del Rosario, his patrol buddy that time from the Mobile Patrol Unit. Del Rosario was exonerated after it was found out that he had remained in the patrol car and Dela Peña was the only one who supposedly dealt with the younger Espina.
Reports cited that Dela Peña had accused the younger Espina of engaging in phone sex as his car was parked along Hemady street.
Based on Del Rosario’s account, Dela Peña boarded Espina’s son’s car, unaware of who he was. Dela Peña and the younger Espina went to two ATM booths as Del Rosario stayed in the police car and followed them.
Eventually the man said he had no money, asking Dela Peña to talk to his father on the phone. The man on the other end of the line introduced himself as Espina, the police general, and it was only then that Dela Peña realized what he had gotten himself into.
When he got back to the police car, Dela Peña supposedly told his patrol buddy: “Anak pala ni General Espina. Hindi ko naman na-Code 2.” The “Code 2” he was referring to was police slang for extortion.
Soon, past complaints against Dela Peña began to surface. One victim told The STAR that in May, Dela Peña reportedly confronted him and his girlfriend and accused them of making out inside his car along Panay Avenue.
The complainant denied this, noting that the place was teeming with people as it was a busy Friday night. He said the policeman allegedly managed to extort P7,000 from him.
Dela Peña was missing for days until he surfaced at Camp Karingal and denied the charges. Eventually, he was dismissed from the service on the strength of an order issued by Espina, as NCRPO chief, based on yet another complaint filed against him.
Dela Vega dissolved the unit to which Dela Peña belonged, redeploying the policemen to the barangay-level precincts that were reactivated by Espina all over Metro Manila.
Rodelas slay case
On Nov. 6, an unidentified woman was shot and dumped from a sport utility vehicle in Cubao. The next day, the woman’s mother went to Camp Karingal and identified the victim as model and television talent Julie Ann Rodelas.
The woman’s friend, Althea Altamirano, who was her last companion, also appeared on TV days later and said Rodelas was abducted in Pasay City.
At first it seemed like the police were facing a blank wall but what helped them crack the case was a tiny piece of paper that the woman was clutching when she was found. It was a receipt of a purchase for a burger meal at fastfood restaurant in Manila. When policemen checked with the store, surveillance footage showed Altamirano’s boyfriend, Fernando Quiambao Jr., buying the burger meal.
It was also the Mitsubishi Montero registered under the name of Quiambao’s mother that was tagged as the one from which the model was dumped.
The following weekend, policemen arrested the couple in Pampaga, and shortly after, Altamirano broke down, narrating the circumstances she said led to the crime.
It was a friendship gone sour, according to Altamirano. They were both working as models but the victim earned her ire when she spread word that she already had children.
This prompted Altamirano to ask her boyfriend to teach Rodelas a “lesson,” something she said she never thought would lead to the rape and killing of the victim.
Suspect Jeymar Waradji, in his statement, said Rodelas was supposedly raped twice, first by Efren Talib and an alias “Aldos,” in a safehouse in Culiat while Quiambao went out to meet Altamirano, who had gone to the Pasay police to report the abduction. Quiambao allegedly bought the burger meal on his way to meet his girlfriend. Talib and Aldos remain at large.
Waradji’s statement was also the one that explained why Rodelas was holding that receipt that eventually led to the solving of the case.
According to Waradji, the victim was initially unaware who her abductors were but when Waradji addressed Quiambao as “Jay” – his nickname – Rodelas found out that Quiambao was involved in her abduction.
Waradji gave the burger meal to Rodelas, who was then still unaware that she was going to be killed, thinking she could bring home the burger meal. Talib then reportedly said that Quiambao wanted Rodelas killed, according to Waradji.