MANILA, Philippines -- A member of the notorious Alvin Flores Gang arrested recently for his alleged involvement in a high profile Makati mall robbery could be used as a state witness against his companions, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

NBI Deputy Director for Intelligence Services (DDIS) chief and lawyer Ruel Lasala said only a court could determine if Rene Batiencela could qualify as a state witness, but added that what the suspect would have to say would be valuable in the continuing operation against other gang members still at large.

Batiencela was arrested during a raid in Cebu province on Oct. 29 by NBI teams from the Task Force Against Armed Robbery Group, the Reaction, Arrest and Interdiction Division and the Central Visayas Regional Office.

During the raid at a Compostela town resort, Flores and three of his men, Richie Gigante Hijapon, Marc Alejandro Bondoc Salamanca and Roger Sanchez, were killed in a shootout with NBI agents.

Lasala added that the NBI invitation to the Antopolo City-based doctor who allegedly conducted plastic surgery on Flores was given simply to ask him if he was privy to the group’s activities.

The information regarding Flores’ cosmetic surgery was reportedly disclosed by Batiencela, who claimed that he wanted to leave the group but was prevented from doing so by other gang members.

In a television interview, Batiencela also revealed that the watches stolen from the Greenbelt 5 robbery were already sold in Bulacan province.

Batiencela was charged on Tuesday with robbery with homicide in the Makati City Prosecutor‘s Office.

Meanwhile, two other gang members who admitted they had participated in several robbery incidents, identified their other companions from a video footage shown yesterday at the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).

Dennis Serquiña was nabbed in his house in Pangasinan on Oct. 31 while Jose Warlito Rodriquito surrendered to police on Nov. 2

The Alvin Flores gang had been linked to the robbery of a Rolex store in Greenbelt 5 mall in Makati City on Oct. 18.

Police records showed that the group staged 14 robberies in 2009, and 27 in 2008, in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. (See sidebar.)

NCRPO chief Director Roberto Rosales said a case could be filed against San Nicolas (Pangasinan) Mayor Leoncio Saldivar III for allegedly harboring crime suspects. Serquiña and Rodriquito reportedly worked as security escorts of the mayor. One alleged member of the gang, Jay-ar Saldivar, is reportedly a cousin of the town executive.
Rosales said the two suspects did not say that Saldivar partook of their loot, but added that the pair headed to the mayor’s house after staging a robbery. Police are still investigating whether or not Saldivar had prior knowledge of the gang’s operations, he said.

Chief Supt. Ramon Gatan, director of Police Regional Office 1, said Flores was brought to the mayor’s house after he was wounded in an armored van robbery incident at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City.

The mayor denied knowing Flores, saying he thought the injured man was just wounded in a bar fight, Gatan said.