MANILA, Philippines - Four suspected members of the notorious Alvin Flores robbery gang, including its supposed leader, were killed in a shootout with lawmen in Cebu on Thursday.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed yesterday that among those killed during the shootout was Alvin Flores, leader of the robbery group.
The NBI also identified the three other slain suspects as Richie Gigante Hijapon, Marc Alejandro Bondoc Salamanca, and Roger Sanchez.
The NBI dispatched a team of agents to serve the warrants of arrest for the suspects who were tracked down at a beach resort in Barangay Estaca, Compostela town in Cebu province.
When the NBI team was about to serve the warrants, the suspects opened fire triggering a 15-minute gunbattle.
NBI Director Nestor Mantaring said six of the suspects were able to escape while the agents arrested one, who Mantaring identified as Santillan Batiencela.
Authorities tagged the group as behind the robbery of a Rolex watch store at the Greenbelt 5 shopping mall in Makati City last Oct. 18 where one of the suspects was killed by responding policemen.
The Alvin Flores gang gained notoriety for posing as uniformed policemen to gain entry in a business establishment they intend to rob.
The group was also tagged behind the series of robberies in Waltermart shopping mall in Quezon City and another store in Malate, Manila. The same group was also tagged for the spate of robbery incidents in Pasig, Manila, Makati and Valenzuela City.
After the Greenbelt robbery, Mantaring said the NBI followed certain leads in tracking down the group led by Flores who has a P500,000 reward for his arrest.
Mantaring said Flores and his group moved from Antipolo, to Bulacan and Pampanga.
The break came when one of the suspects was spotted by an informant in Mandaue, Cebu.
Mantaring said NBI agents flew to Cebu and tailed the suspect who unwittingly led the lawmen to their hideout at a beach resort in Compostela where the encounter occurred.
Just hours before the shootout, an Army officer offered P10,000 reward for the capture and arrest of his namesake.
At the same time, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said Lt. Col. Alvin Flores offered the bounty on top of the P500,000 reward money for the arrest of Flores.
“He (Col. Flores) just wanted to inform everybody that he is not the criminal Alvin Flores. He offered the reward yesterday (Thursday) noon. Alvin Flores was later killed,” Verzosa told a news conference.
Verzosa said the reward would be given to the informant who tipped off the lawmen.
Verzosa added the PNP would still search for the remaining members of the group who managed to escape.
“We are now conducting a massive hunt,” he said.
Verzosa ordered PNP intelligence chief Director Eugene Martin to update the PNP’s order of battle following the killing of Flores and his henchmen.
He also tasked Martin to sustain the campaign against organized crime syndicates.
“There are other groups we are hunting down in several parts of the country. Like (the Alvin) Flores (gang), we expect to have them neutralized in the coming days,” Martin said.
Verzosa credited the NBI for taking down the Alvin Flores gang.
With the Flores gang neutralized, Verzosa expects other organized crime groups to lie low awhile. – With Mike Frialde, Non Alquitran