Cops catch rob suspect through ‘WAIS’ program

The name alone should have tipped him off.

A suspect in a robbery case ended up being arrested and detained Wednesday after he applied for a police clearance through the Warrant of Arrest Information System, or WAIS (Pilipino slang for wise), program.

Senior Superintendent Conrad Capa, Muntinlupa police chief, identified the man as Robert John Kristopher Flores Estupin, 22, a jobless resident of Bayfair Subdivision in Barangay (village) Putatan.

A check of the WAIS database showed that he has a standing warrant of arrest issued in 2011 by Judge Juanita Guerrero of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204.

“The suspect personally went to the police station to apply for a police clearance. He said he needed it for a job application,” Capa told the Inquirer Thursday.

Asked what kind of job the suspect was applying for, Capa said that Estupin had informed them that he wanted to be a tanod, or watchman, in his barangay.

When a staffer of the Muntinlupa police typed in the suspect’s personal details on the computer using the WAIS program, the results were less than encouraging.

“There was no mistaking that the job applicant was the suspect wanted by authorities,” Capa said.

Capa said the robbery suspect was well aware of the case against him and the issuance of a warrant for his arrest.

“He thought our database doesn’t work and we would still issue him a clearance without finding out [about] his previous case,” he added.

The suspect has since been arrested and now needs to pay the recommended bail bond of P100,000 for his temporary liberty.

The police said they were looking into his possible involvement in other robbery-holdups in the city and nearby areas.

Chief Supt. Benito Estipona, director of Southern Police District, said the Philippine National Police’s computer database WAIS program, which consolidates arrest warrants issued across the country, has been helpful in tracking down fugitives.

“Muntinlupa, for one, had at least three hits this year. The [police] have arrested three people, including [Estupin], who were facing various criminal charges,” Estipona said.