Three of the 13 robbers in the armored van robbery at the Alabang Town Center (ATC) mall in Muntinlupa City on Friday have been identified with the aid of a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera.
Chief Superintendent Benito Estipona, head of the Southern Police District, named the suspects as Ricky Cadavero and Michael Damolo. The third was identified only as a certain “KC”.
Benito said the video footage was taken from a CCTV installed on Madrigal Avenue at the mall entrance. ATC security guards also helped police identify the suspects.
The robbery on Friday, the second in ATC this year, left one suspected robber dead and two security guards wounded. Before they fled, the robbers lobbed a M23 grenade, injuring at least five others.
Benito said Cadavero is a member of the notorious Ozamis robbery group that operates in Metro Manila and Southern Luzon with links to criminal groups based in Mindanao.
Cadavero, who was out on bail for a string of robbery cases, was seen entering the Czarina Money Exchange shop inside the mall at 9:18 am on Friday.
A security guard also saw the suspect in the shop five consecutive days before the incident.
Damolo, on the other hand, turned out to be the owner of a Mitsubishi Lancer (PKR 173) sedan believed to be one of the getaway vehicles, which the robbers abandoned along Alabang-Zapote Road.
Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, the newly-installed chief of the National Capital Regional Police Office, on Monday told policemen in a briefing at Villamor Airbase in Pasay City that he would strictly enforce the 8-hour shift to increase police visibility.
“Many of us spend most of our time at our own stations. We should always be seen in the streets,” Espina said.