Police name 3 rob suspects in Alabang mall heist

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.