Relatives claim bodies of slain J Centre Mall robbery suspects; police require background check of claimants

(L to R): Godofreda Abalidad and  Lorela Ladwa arrived in Cebu today, October 22, 2019, to claim the bodies of J Centre Mall robbery suspects Kevin Plaza Andales and DC Glen Tairos. | Photos grabbed from GMA-7 video

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Relatives of the slain J Center Mall robbery suspects have started to claim the bodies of dead relatives.

But Police Colonel Roderick Mariano, director of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO),  said that the claimants will be made to undergo background check before they will be allowed to retrieve the bodies.

“Baka kasi kagrupo pala nila,” Mariano said.

(We wanted to make sure that the claimants are not part of the robbery group.)

Read More: Rob group leader among four killed; five others arrested in Bogo, Sogod

Four of the robbery suspects who were identified as Kevin Plaza Andales, 25; Wilfredo Suerte Enguito, 47; Philip Faburada, 47; and DC Glen Tiaros, 47, were killed in a follow up operation by the police on Sunday dawn, October 20, 2019.

Andales is from Barangay Lorenzotan in Tangub City while Enguito is from Misamis Occidental. Faburada is from Tondo while Tairos is from Barangay Lawaan in Talisay City.

Tairos was identified by the police as the robbery group’s leader.

Since Sunday, Mariano said that they already started to coordinated with relatives of the four suspects to inform them of their deaths.  The suspects’ bodies are now kept in a funeral parlor in downtown Cebu City.

Mariano said he gave instructions for the Mandaue City police to do a background check on the claimants before they facilitate the release of the bodies.

Read more: Following daring heist in JCentre Mall, Mayor Cortes tells establishments to beef up security

Police Captain Junafe Vergara of MCPO told CDN Digital that an aunt already claimed Faburada’s body Monday night, October 21.  But she no longer disclosed the claimant’s name.

During their verification, Faburada’s aunt told Mandaue City police that the suspect was born and raised in Tangub City in Misamis Occidental before he moved to Tondo.

This morning, October 22, two more women appeared at the downtown Cebu City funeral homes to also claim the bodies of Andales and Tairos.

Godofreda Abalidad, who is from Tangub City, claimed the body of Andales. Abalidad said that she was Andales’ mother.

The second woman, who was identified as Lorela Ladwa of Ozamis City in Misamis Occidental, claimed to be a cousin of Tairos.

But the two women will have to undergo background check by the police.

Read more: Subangdaku Police Station chief: Mall robbers took P130M worth of jewelry, P6M cash

In an interview with reporters, Abalidad said that her son’s real name is Joemark Tayrus. Abalidad said that her son was using her maiden name.  But she was unable to explain why he changed his name to Kevin Plaza Andales.

Abalidad said that she learned of her son’s death from news reports.  She last saw Andales in March. Andales told her then that he was travelling to Cagayan de Oro to work there.

She said that she has not seen Andales since and that they would only communicate through cellular phone calls or text messages.

Ladwa, for her part, said that it had been years since they last heard from Tairos. She said that she personally travelled to Cebu to retrieve his body because Tairos does not have immediate family members.

Both Abalidad and Ladwa told reporters that they do not intend to file charges against the police who were responsible for the death of their relatives. / dcb