By Jennifer P. Rendon
E-sabong. Cara y cruz. Pusoy.
Name every kind of gambling and chances are Adrian Pineda and Carlos Alvarez were hooked to these games.
This gambling addiction is what apparently drove Pineda and Alvarez, along with two other friends, to carry out the P1.5-million highway robbery in Passi City, Iloilo on March 28, 2022.
Two days later, Pineda and Alcarde were arrested in Calinog town where they resided.
Members of Passi City Police Station first nabbed Alcarde around 12:15 p.m. Wednesday at Barangay Cabagiao.
The 44-year-old suspect, a resident of Barangay Jalandoni, Calinog, was riding a motorcycle to a friend’s birthday party when he was arrested.
Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Pamonag, Passi City police chief, claimed that Alcarde admitted to joining the robbery.
He then pointed to his other cohorts.
Alcarde’s “admission” led the cops to the 25-year-old Pineda, who was collared at his house in Barangay Lampaya, Calinog.
Only P204,000 cash was seized from the duo.
Pamonag said two other suspects remain at large but he declined to name them in the meantime.
Investigation indicated that four suspects on board two motorcycles carried out the robbery against two employees of LALAC Hardware based in Calinog town.
Joan Sequito and Cherry Tabilid were on their way to Passi City on a motorcycle when another motorcycle waylaid them at Barangay Agdahon, Passi City.
The duo was supposed to deposit their weekly earnings with two banks located in Passi City when the robbery happened.
The back riding suspect immediately alighted from the vehicle and aimed his caliber .38 revolver at Tabilid.
The woman claimed the suspect told her “Hold-up, hold-up.”
He immediately grabbed Tabilid’s bag containing P1,568,000, a mobile phone, and her wallet containing P2,000 cash.
Police learned that Pineda drove the motorcycle with another suspect while Alcarde drove the back-up motorcycle with another companion.
The incident was deemed an “inside job” since Pineda was employed by LALAC Hardware store as an on-call helper.
Both arrested suspects claimed that they decided to rob the company because of their mounting gambling debts.
After splitting their loot, the two suspects claimed they paid some of their debts then spent the rest on more gambling.
Pamonag said the suspects were identified through the CCTV footages taken before and after the robbery incidents.
It appeared that all four suspects have no previous criminal records in Iloilo province. They are also not connected with other suspects involved in previous robbery incidents.
Pamonag said they filed a case of robbery with intimidation and force upon things against the four suspects.
It can be noted that after the Passi City robbery, the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) has ordered its field commanders to step up its campaign against criminality.
Colonel Adrian Acollador, Iloilo police chief, has told chiefs of police to enhance patrolling and intelligence gathering against robbers and thieves.
He also reminded them to revitalize their respective barangay intelligence network (BIN) and other support groups to pre-empt similar crime incidents.
