Hunt on for ‘Rene Requiestas’

The police have yet to identify the motorcycle-riding robbers—one of whom was described as a look-alike of the late comedian Rene Requiestas—who took an actor’s bag which contained close to P60,000 worth of valuables in San Juan City on Saturday night.

According to Senior Superintendent Joselito Daniel, the San Juan police chief, Joseph Smisek, 28, who goes by the screen name of Yussef Esteves, was set to go over the police files of known crime suspects to try to identify the two men who took his bag at gunpoint.

The incident happened in front of Eatfresh Hongkong Street Food Restaurant on Abad Santos Street in Barangay (village) Little Baguio at 10:45 p.m.

The backrider who Smisek said pointed a gun at him was described as around 5’4” in height and dressed in a black jacket and short pants.

Investigators, meanwhile, said they were still looking for other individuals who could provide a description of the gunman’s alleged cohort, the man who was driving the motorcycle.

Looking for witnesses

“We are looking for people who were eating in the area who can give statements [about the description of the driver of the motorcycle to the police],” the police official said, adding that the people who were with the victim at that time—including the actor’s girlfriend Angelee delos Reyes—did not get a good glimpse of the robber’s cohort.

Although there was a closed-circuit television camera in the area, Daniel  said its point of view was “too elevated,” which meant it was not able to capture the faces of the two suspects who were also wearing motorcycle helmets.

Daniel added that the police were verifying information that the comedian look-alike and his cohort may have come from nearby Mandaluyong or Quezon City.

He said robbers arrested in previous cases were often from these two areas.