"We are closing in on the suspects and hopefully we can have them in custody before the one-week deadline lapses," said Senior Superintendent Freddie Panen, Rizal police director.
Members of the crack team are now scouring Cainta and other Rizal towns for the five men who barged into the victims’ house in Barangay San Jose, ransacked it of cash and valuables and then sexually molested the two teenagers.
Panen said Superintendent Pierre Bucsit heads the group, with Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, Cainta police chief, as his deputy.
The group has three teams headed by Cruz, Superintendent Joel Garcia, Rizal police intelligence chief; and Superintendent Rolando Anduyan, of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Rizal.
Panen said Cruz’s team is concentrating on Cainta town, and Garcia’s on the whole of Rizal. Anduyan’s will complement the two teams.
According to Panen, the group has the artist’s sketches of two of the five robbers, based on the descriptions of the victims, their mother and two relatives.
The robbers, armed with handguns, barged into the victims’ house after their parents opened the door to let two relatives in.
The robbers herded everyone into the sala, and then ransacked the place of cash and jewelry. Before leaving, they dragged the twins to a room where they took turns sexually abusing them.
While escaping on board the homeowners’ Kia Pride, they shot and wounded Alexander Doming, 28, and his girlfriend, Karen Bayaga, who were riding tandem on a motorcycle in the middle of the street.