Police Colonel Roderick Mariano | Alven Marie Timtim
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The police needed J Centre Mall robbery suspects alive, not dead.
This was the response of Police Colonel Roderick Mariano, director of the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO), to insinuations of a rubout in the death of four of the nine men believed to be responsible for the robbery of four jewelry stores and a money changer shop located at the ground floor of the Mandaue City mall.
Mariano said they needed the suspects alive to extract vital information that would lead police to the location of their other cohorts and the possible recovery of the jewelry and cash which they stole Saturday night, October 19, 2019.
Read More: Rob group leader among four killed; five others arrested in Bogo, Sogod
But he said that it was unfortunate that four of the suspects had to die in the hands of their arresting officers. Three of the suspects reportedly tried to grab the firearms of Regional Special Operations Task Group in Central Visayas (RSOTG-7) personnel who escort them from the Pulambato Wharf, where they were arrested, on their way to the Bogo City Police Station.
A fourth suspect, who was identified as robbery group leader Glenn Tairos, was also killed in a follow up operation at the Pulambato wharf, a few hours later.
“As far as I know kaming mga police, we just did our job,” said Mariano.
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Still, Mariano said that they would cooperate in the ongoing investigation of the Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas (CHR-7) on the death of the four suspects, Sunday dawn, October 20. The group was about to board a vessel for Masbate province then.
The CPPO director explained that much as they wanted the suspects alive, the police also needed to protect themselves from attack.
He said that the killing of the four suspects was unintentional. But it cannot be avoided under the circumstance that they were in then.
Read More: Cop chief: Search on for 3 Ozamis rob group members carrying stolen loot from Mandaue mall heist
The fact that they rushed the suspects to the hospital for treatment was an indication that the police would have wanted to save their lives, Mariano said.
Meanwhile, Mariano said that he has directed the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) to check the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from establishments located close to the J Centre Mall and those that were mounted at the Bogo City bus terminal hoping to find leads on the three other robbery suspects who have remained at large.
Bus drivers whom they spoke with told the police the three suspects boarded a vehicle on their way back to Mandaue City following their encounter with policemen in Bogo City. / dcb