Carcar bank 'robber' slain
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 16:08:00 05/08/2008
His instinct had told him to stay in jail.
But a plea from his wife convinced robbery suspect Recolly Igoy to sign his release order after posting P100,000 bail, even if he was afraid that an assassin would be out to get him once he was released.
His worst fears came true.
Less than 30 minutes after he walked out of the Carcar City jail, unidentified gunmen killed Igoy, 22, in an ambush past noon yesterday in Minglanilla town, southern Cebu.
Their driver, Ronalde Enario, 22, was also killed while his wife Analyn and sister Chona were wounded when gunmen on board two separate motorcycles fired at their white Kia Pride car in barangay Pakigne, Minglanilla about 12:40 p.m.
They were heading home to barangay Mactan in Lapu-Lapu City after Igoy was released on bail from the Carcar City jail.
Senior Supt. Camelo Valmoria immediately dismissed speculations that policemen were responsible for the ambush.
“If policemen wanted to take the law into their own hands, he would not have been alive during the shootout. We have our criminal justice system, so we should follow it because we are law enforcers. As far as I am concerned, we do not take the law into our hands,” said Valmoria, Cebu provincial police director.
Igoy was one of the two suspects who robbed the Rural Bank of Cebu South Inc. in barangay Poblacion Dos, Carcar, about 40 km south of Cebu City, on April 28.
His companion, Nelson Gutierrez, was killed during the shootout with the police after they took hostage a female bank employee in a desperate attempt to escape after the robbery.
Igoy was wounded in the shootout and the money they took from the bank was recovered. He was later brought to the hospital for treatment and was later charged with robbery with violence and intimidation.
Bail for him was set at P100,000. His family paid for it through a surety bond.
Vice Executive Judge Ramon Codilla approved his release orders.
But bondsman Tito Agujar, who processed the accused’s surety bond, said Igoy did not want to be released because the accused feared for his life as someone was out to get him.
Igoy’s father Dioscoro convinced his son to sign the release papers so these could be processed immediately. But Igoy, according to Agujar, preferred to stay inside the jail where he felt safer.
It was only after his wife Analyn begged him to sign the order that he gave in. But by then, it was past 5 p.m. and the court offices were already closed.
Igoy was not released immediately in the morning yesterday because the release order did not have a court seal.
Agujar said he went back to the courtroom of Judge Codilla about 10 a.m. to have the order marked with a seal.
Dioscoro was even complaining that it was already past noon but his son was still in jail. Later, Dioscoro called Agujar to inform him that his son was killed.
Igoy’s parents, wife Analyn and sister Chona went to the Carcar City jail to fetch Igoy after the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Carcar received a copy of the release order about 11:35 a.m. yesterday.
JO1 Raglen Cimafranca of the Carcar BJMP said that based on their records, Igoy was released to Analyn, Chona and his mother Liliosa at 12:20 p.m.
They boarded the white Kia Pride car (YAR 653) driven by Enario. They were heading home to Soong 2, barangay Mactan in Lapu-Lapu City.
Dioscoro rode a Hyundai Starex van, along with cousin Pedring Ygot.
Upon reaching Pakigne, four men on board separate Yamaha DT and Honda XRM motorcycles drove alongside the Kia Pride car.
The passenger of one of the motorcycles pulled out a gun and shot Enario, hitting him in the chest. The car then went out of control and hit a multipurpose cab parked along the road.
Then the back riders got off from the motorcycles, approached the car and fired at Igoy, hitting him in the head, according to Brix Salve, owner of a construction firm located along the road.
“Ang mga back riders maoy nagpusil, nag-jacket ug helmet (The back riders were the ones who fired. They wore jackets and helmets),” Salve said.
The two gunmen then casually walked back to their motorcycles and headed north.
Police investigators said when the gunmen opened fire, Igoy, who sat between Analyn and mother Liliosa in the back seat, was able to tell his companions to drop to the ground to avoid getting hit by stray bullets.
But Chona, who was sitting in the front seat, was hit in the left arm, apparently from the bullets intended for Enario.
Analyn, who was in the back seat with Igoy, suffered gunshot wounds in the right hand. Liliosa, who was unharmed, ran out of the vehicle in panic.
She was immediately picked up by her husband Dioscoro who was tailing the Kia Pride on board the Starex van. Reports said the couple immediately went home to Lapu-Lapu.
Igoy and Enario died on the spot. Chona and Analyn had first been brought to the Minglanilla District Hospital but were later transferred to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.
Christopher Igot, a cousin of Igoy, said Liliosa was later brought to a hospital due to a state of shock resulting from the attack on her son.
Igot, a neighbor of the family in Lapu-Lapu who helped raise P25,000 for the surety bond, said they were all shocked by what happened and asked the government to ensure that justice would be served.
He maintained that his cousin was a good person and had no misdemeanor in the barangay. They also pitied Enario, the driver of his uncle Fredo, owner of the car, he added.
Senior Supt. Valmoria assured the family that the police would work to solve the killing, even if the victim was a robbery suspect.
He ordered Senior Insp. Romeo Santander, Minglanilla police chief, to fast track the investigation.
Vamoria said he noticed that the killing was similar to how suspected robber Rodolfo Atega was slain after posting bail last year. Another robbery suspect from Lapu-Lapu City was also ambushed and killed after he was released from jail while already in the vicinity of Cebu City.
Among the angles being looked into was that Igoy was killed by members of his own robbery group who were scared that he might squeal on their operations.
Valmoria cited the case of a robbery gang member who was silenced by fellow members in Lapu-Lapu to stop him from giving vital information to the police.
Senior Inspector Santander said Chona told him that before they left the Carcar City jail, someone told them to be careful. They were even discourage to post bail, he added.
Based on description of the witnesses, the gunmen were in their early 40s.
Two empty .357 bullet casings were found on the road near the right side of the Kia Pride. No bullet casings were found from the position of the gunman who shot Enario.
Igoy was the sixth suspect to have been killed shortly upon released from jail.
Among them was Rodolfo Atega, who belonged to a splinter group of Roy Fernandez’s robbery group. He was shot dead on General Maxilom Avenue in Cebu City last year shortly after he was released from the Cebu City jail. /Correspondents Chito Aragon, Hayde Quiñanola, Carine Asutilla, Jhunnex Napallacan, Chris Ligan and Reporter Nilda Gallo
|
