Rob suspect slain for baring gang’s hideout

MANILA, Philippines - A suspected robber was killed in Quezon City Friday, weeks after revealing the hideout of his cohorts, police said yesterday.

Joven Patropez, 25, of Nagcarlan, Laguna, was shot at the corner of Timog and Panay Avenues in Barangay Laging Handa at past 5 p.m. Friday.

Superintendent Pedro Sanchez, commander of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 2, said the victim was with his partner, Elsie Salinas, in a taxi when the vehicle stopped at a red light.

Two men on a motorcycle stopped next to the right side of the taxi. The back rider got off and started shooting at Patropez.

Sanchez said Patropez had just posted bail and was released that afternoon from the QCPD Station 2, where he had been detained since he was arrested on Jan. 13 for his involvement in a jeepney robbery.

Sanchez believes Patropez was killed as revenge after he got four of his companions arrested by revealing their whereabouts two weeks ago.

They were Michael dela Cruz, 30; Resty Hopio, 23; Ehzier Fortuna, 35; and Jill Ryan Ibardaloza, 35. Sanchez said Hopio is out on bail.

On Jan. 13, Patropez and his companions robbed an off-duty policeman, Police Officer 1 Liberato Antang, in a jeepney along West Avenue in Barangay West Triangle.

After the suspects got off the jeepney, Antang – a member of the Special Action Force – ran after the suspects and was able to catch Patropez.

That same day, policemen arrested the rest of the suspects, who were in a room at South Homes Apartelle on Timog Avenue, Sanchez said.