Gunmen in police uniform kill 3 in Masbate mining town robbery

LEGAZPI CITY — Nine gunmen who posed as policemen shot to death a businessman, his son and their driver at dawn Easter Sunday in the mining town of Aroroy in Masbate, police said Monday.

Senior Police Officer 1 Zandro Cabintoy, spokesperson of the Masbate police, said in a phone interview that businessman Jesus Amaro, 64, his son Gilbert, 36, and their driver Ricky Almodiel were killed inside the family compound in Barangay Luy-a at 4:30 a.m.

Investigation showed that the assailants armed with caliber .45 pistols and M16 rifles entered the compound by jumping the fence.

Cabintoy said the armed men — who wore the police’s upper athletic uniform, general office attire of blue pants and wet look shoes — introduced themselves as members of the Criminal Investigation and
Detection Group.

Once inside the compound, they tied the hands of security guard Alwin Licip, 23, and helper Steve Ramones, 43, before proceeding to the house in search of Amaro.

Inside the house, a duplex occupied by the three victims, the gunmen looked for the elder Amaro.

Cabintoy said Gilbert, who was roused by the commotion, refused to reveal his father’s room. This angered one of the suspects who shot Gilbert, hitting him in the left chest and left side of the head. Gilbert died on the spot.

Another suspect accosted Almodiel, who was also awakened, and told him to knock at Amaro’s door.

When Amaro opened the door, the suspects grabbed and pulled him and Almodiel to the living room, where they were shot dead, said Cabintoy.

The suspects ransacked the room of Amaro and carted away a container containing a still undetermined amount of silver, a shoulder bag with an undetermined amount of gold, assorted jewelry and a .45-caliber pistol.

Cabintoy said the suspects then took the white Nissan Safari Patrol of the victims to serve as their getaway vehicle.

He said Senior Supt. Jesus C. Martirez, Masbate police chief, had created the Special Investigation Task Group “Amaro” to speed up the resolution of the case.