MANILA, Philippines—The police finally caught up the other day with a motorcycle-riding thief who was linked to nearly 100 robbery and snatching cases in Quezon City.
Macario “Mac-mac” Ordanes, 45, a dismissed policeman from Nueva Ecija, was arrested after he was wounded in a shootout with a police team in front of a condominium on Panay Avenue on Monday afternoon.
Chief Inspector Ritchie Claravall, head of the Quezon City Police District’s city hall detachment, said that lawmen had long been looking for Ordanes who was believed to be responsible for numerous robberies and snatching cases in Barangays (villages) Pinyahan, Paligsahan and South Triangle.
On March 7, a Japanese man and his girlfriend were walking on Malakas Street in Pinyahan when a man on a motorcycle stopped in front of them.
At gunpoint, the robber took the Japanese’s bag which contained at least $4,000 in cash.
When the victim checked the photos kept by the police of suspected criminals, he positively identified Ordanes as the man who took his money.
On Monday afternoon, a tipster told the police that Ordanes was going around Panay Avenue on his motorcycle, possibly looking for his next victim.
A police team headed by Police Officer 3 Angel Pascasio was sent to the area to verify the information. When they saw the robbery suspect in front of S and F Condominium, they approached him but he pulled out a gun and shot at them.
In an interview with the Inquirer, Pascasio said they had no choice but to fire back.
He drew his firearm and shot Ordanes, hitting him in the neck.
Pascasio said that Ordanes used the same motorcycle in his illegal activities although he would sometimes change the license plate.
At times, he would make a slight change by using a sticker to cover up one of the letters or numbers on the vehicle’s license plates, he added.
Ordanes was immediately taken to East Avenue Medical Center where he remains confined.
The police, however, lost no time in filing charges of direct assault and illegal possession of firearms against him with the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.
Assistant Prosecutor Edwin Valdez recommended bail of P12,000 for the assault charge and P60,000 for illegal possession.
Case officer Senior Police Officer 2 Rommel Bautista said Ordanes was dismissed from the service after he was arrested for robbery and illegal possession of firearms.
He used to be a member of the Nueva Ecija police.
Pascasio said Monday’s shootout was just one of Ordanes’ several encounters with the police.
According to him, Ordanes was very good at eluding them. His training as a policeman also served him well as a robber, he added.
“He is a very good motorcycle rider which is why he was able to evade us even though he had been wounded before,” Pascasio told the Inquirer.
He also said that Ordanes had no qualms about hurting his targets.
“Any victim that refused to yield her or his bag, he dragged them with him until the victim was forced to let go,” Pascasio said.
He added that last year alone, Ordanes was identified as the suspect in at least 20 robbery cases.
“These were only the ones that were reported to us. There were also others in which the victims did not file a report,” he said.
In 2005, Pascasio said his team responded to a robbery-snatching case on Malakas Street in Quezon City but Ordanes evaded them by dragging his victim as he rode on his motorcycle. He then took her on his motorcycle and used as a shield to escape.
Seized from Ordanes after the shootout were a 9-mm pistol, a .25-cal. firearm and a Honda XRM motorcycle with Plate No. IB 2048.
“The small pistol was taken from a secret pocket in his pants,” a police official said.
At least five victims have positively identified Ordanes as the man who had robbed them previously.
Meanwhile, a son of Ordanes who was visiting him at the hospital refused to be interviewed.
“We do not know what to say for now,” he said.