Raps show PUV robbers evolving into carjackers

MANILA, Philippines - Charges filed against several men show their progression from robbing the passengers of a public utility vehicle in July 2013 to  commandeering a former lawmaker’s car last week.

Back in July last year, a policeman tried but failed to fight off armed robbers fleeing from a UV Express van whose passengers they had just victimized along Commonwealth Avenue.

One of the men tagged in the highway robbery was Alvin Ignacio, alias Vino, who had been named in a series of heists, including that of a University of the Philippines (UP) professor in October 2013.

On Thursday, Ignacio was among four men arrested for carjacking the sport utility vehicle (SUV) of former lawmaker Mat Defensor.

In the July 27, 2013 incident, Senior Police Officer 1 Dennis Fernandez was then driving on his way to work when he noticed the UV Express van and its passengers in Barangay North Fairview.

In his sworn statement, Fernandez said he noticed that the van was moving slowly and he saw a man appearing restless while occasionally glancing at the AUV driven by the policeman.

Fernandez grew suspicious and decided to tail the van until he saw a woman passenger trembling in fear. At an intersection, three men got off the van carrying a bag appearing to be filled with items.

The incident was caught on a surveillance video as Fernandez moved his vehicle backward to get a better glimpse of the men who were fleeing. A taxicab was about to pick them up when one of the men opened fire. Fernandez shot it out with three of the suspects, who were then transferring to a taxicab they used as a getaway vehicle.

In the ensuing robbery case filed against the suspects, Fernandez identified Ignacio, Jonathan Arguilles and Renato Alonzo from the rogues’ gallery provided by the Marikina police station, where the three reportedly faced a separate robbery case. He also tagged cabbie Philip Ballado as the one who drove the getaway vehicle.

New ventures

Quezon City Police District (QCPD) deputy director for administration Senior Superintendent Joel Pagdilao said Ignacio’s group had apparently ventured into carjacking as policemen intercepted them on Thursday after they drove off with Defensor’s Toyota Land Cruiser as his driver was waiting for him in Loyola Heights.

After minutes of driving around the area, the suspects were arrested when they left the SUV  in Barangay Pansol with the driver still inside, Pagdilao said.

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Richard Albano said Ignacio and his companions Noel Delosa, Dennis Valdez, and Gonzalo Terado were carrying guns and illegal drugs when they were arrested.

Pagdilao said policemen have been hot on the trail of Ignacio’s group after he was tagged in a series of other heists, including that of political science professor Perlita Frago-Marasigan on Oct. 16, 2013.

The professor was robbed by the suspects as she was about to board her car at the parking lot on campus. She was pushed into her car, handcuffed and had her head covered by the suspects. Threatened by the suspects, she divulged the PIN of her ATM account.

After the suspects withdrew money and took her iPhone, the professor was driven back to the campus where she was eventually left behind by the suspects.

While the professor could not see her abductors at that time, surveillance footage at the ATM machine where the withdrawal took place showed Ignacio, Pagdilao said.

Group ‘studied’ victims

The heist that targeted Marasigan and the carjacking of Defensor’s SUV appeared to have differed from the other modus employed by Ignacio’s group in two other robberies.

QCPD Station 9 commander Superintendent Richard Fiesta said Ignacio’s group “studied” their victims.

Fiesta explained that when the group deemed that it was easy for the group to strike at a particular moment, they would hit right there and then.

However, the group employed a more complicated scheme in two other heists.

Ignacio allegedly posed as a potential customer and asked for a ride in the victim’s car to meet his boss. The other suspects would be waiting at a certain spot to commandeer the vehicle.

He and his group robbed businesswoman Jen Victoria Peñaflor on Nov. 24, 2013 and financial consultant Gemma Hoshino four days later using the same modus operandi.

Surveillance camera footage showed Ignacio meeting with Peñaflor at a mall on North EDSA.

Following the suspects’ arrest, Albano called on other victims of similar heists, saying there could be other cases perpetrated by Ignacio’s group.