Pawnshop robbery mastermind is ex-political prisoner, juris doctor
Jigger Geverola, the alleged mastermind behind the pawnshop robbery on November 25, is detained at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) after his arrest in Argao on Tuesday, November 28. | Emmariel Ares
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The police have identified a former political detainee as the alleged mastermind behind the daring robbery of a pawnshop and jewelry store in broad daylight along Colon Street on Saturday, November 25, 2023.
Jigger Geverola, an employee of a Cebu Provincial Board member, was arrested after his alleged cohorts, who were previously apprehended, provided authorities with information about him. Geverola resides in Barangay Gutlang, Argao.
In 2001, Geverola faced murder and arson charges for allegedly burning a Philtranco bus in Catmon. He was apprehended in 2004. The charges were later amended to two counts of rebellion and arson in 2008.
According to Police Colonel Ireneo B. Dalogdog, the City Director of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), the military described Geverola as an official of the Communist in Central Visayas Regional Party Committee and noted his previous active participation in rallies.
READ: Robbery update: Alleged mastermind in pawnshop heist nabbed in Argao
He was once detained at the prison facility of the Central Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Despite his past encounters with the law, Geverola reportedly shifted his focus to rebuilding his life. He completed his law studies at a university in Cebu City in 2020 and recently took the 2023 Bar examinations, with results scheduled for announcement on December 5.
According to Dalogdog, Geverola visited the Cebu City Police Office on Monday, November 27, aiming to clear his name.
This suspicion arose following the arrest of Dan Carlo Geverola Flores and Jordan Ramos Baquinao inside the alleged getaway vehicle during a checkpoint in Sibonga town.
In their extra-judicial confession, Flores and Baquinao implicated Geverola as the one who instructed them during the robbery. They also revealed that Geverola directed them to hide the getaway vehicle in Sibonga upon learning of CCTV footage capturing their escape.
The CCTV footage showed four armed men looting a pawnshop and jewelry store in Colon, Cebu City, exiting the establishment with stolen items on two motorcycles after approximately two minutes.
In subsequent operations, authorities arrested two alleged suspects, Norman Lopez Manuel and his live-in partner Marcelyn Sonor, in a barangay in Mandaue City on Sunday, November 26.
Flores and Baquinao were also apprehended the day after the first arrests. A fifth alleged accomplice, 37-year-old Jerum Cambarijan Davin, was arrested in Argao on Tuesday, November 28.
Dalogdog mentioned that they are likely to be charged with robbery in band.
The six individuals in police custody, including Geverola, are reportedly members of a robbery group remnants of the Parojinog vigilante group that operated in Mindanao.
Authorities are now gathering information on two other individuals believed to be involved in the robbery.
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