Man held for drugs admits role in Pasay hotel robbery

Rene Cachila —PHOTO BY DEXTER CABALZA

A 24-year-old man who was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Marikina on Saturday night admitted he was one of the gunmen who robbed some guests at Mabuhay Manor Hotel in Pasay City in January.

Rene Cachila was arrested along with his brother Ricky, 31, and his brother’s live-in partner Sophia Dumdum, 27, at their house on Atis Street, Barangay Nangka, at 7 p.m., according to the Marikina police chief, Senior Supt. Roger Quesada.

On drug list

Five sachets of “shabu” (crystal meth) were recovered from the three suspects, who were also on the city’s drug watch list.

While being booked for their drug case at the police station, Cachila told the Inquirer that he was one of the four masked men who took cash and valuables from the Pasay hotel in the wee hours of Jan. 2.

The police earlier said the victims lost a total of P4 million.

“I admitted my participation because I want to clear my name and my conscience. I want to have a new life,” Cachila said, adding that he was forced to confess during the police interrogation.

Gang of six

He said they were six in the group who planned the robbery, with two of his cohorts — Ramoncito Calilap and a certain Mark — staying in the black Hyundai Starex van parked on Ortigas Street as he and the rest entered the hotel.

Cachila pointed to Calilap as the “mastermind” and the one who recruited him and his friend Axel Belmonte, promising them a share in the loot.

Calilap had actually been detained since March 19 at the Marikina police station after he was arrested near his home on Bagong Silang Street, Barangay Nangka.

The police said he was caught keeping several sachets of shabu, an Ingram submachine gun, a 9-mm pistol, and several rounds of ammunition.

Three robberies

According to Quesada, the 27-year-old Calilap was behind a series of robbery-holdup incidents in Marikina and nearby cities.

According to Cachila, the Mabuhay Manor job was his first with the group and that they later robbed two establishments in Cavite in mid-January.