Cordova robbery: Man, teener, who stole guard’s shotgun to buy drugs, nabbed

A man, a 17-year-old boy are arrested for stealing a shotgun at a school’s guardhouse on Friday, July 22, in Cordova town in Mactan Island. | Photo courtesy of Cordova PS

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A man and a minor, a 17-year-old boy, are in big trouble after they allegedly stole a school’s security guard’s shotgun in Cordova town that they allegedly intended to sell to buy drugs.

The theft, which happened on July 22, 2022, led to the arrest of Dondel Flores, 39, and his 17-year-old cohort near Flores’ house in Purok 1, Barangay Gabi, Cordova town in Mactan Island, an hour after the crime was committed.

Police Major Michael Gingoyon, chief of Cordova Police Station, said in a phone interview today, July 23, that Flores was caught with a .38 caliber revolver when he was arrested with the minor.

Gingoyon said that they would file the necessary charges against these two on Monday, July 25. 

He also said that  they already received a certificate of discernment from the town’s Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the 17-year-old boy.

The police chief also said that they were also looking for the third cohort of Flores, who remained at large as of this posting.

He said cases of illegal possession of firearms and robbery with force upon things would be filed against Flores while the minor would be charged with robbery with force upon things.

Cordova rob probe

Investigation showed that the three suspects were drinking in front of the guardhouse of the school at 5 a.m. on Friday, July 22.

When the two security guards went on their patrol rounds inside the school and left the guardhouse empty at past 5 a.m. that day, the three suspects took advantage of this and entered the guardhouse by forcibly entering the comfort room beside the guardhouse, which was connected to it.

Gingoyon said they entered guardhouse by removing the blades of window jalousie of the comfort room, then when inside broke the lock of the comfort room leading to the guardhouse.

“Ang kining guardhouse naa ni dapit sa gate, unahan ra gyud sa gate. Unya ang kaning suspects nato nag-inom daw nas atubangan, nagmasid-masid na diay na sila diay, nakakitag opportunity maong dali-dali nga niadto na didto [guardhouse],” Gingoyon said.

(The guardhouse is a few meters away from the school’s gate. And then suspects were drinking in front (of the school at that time), and they were really scoping the school, then they saw an opportunity, that is when they hurriedly went to the guardhouse.)

The suspects then stole the security guard’s shotgun inside the guardhouse and hurriedly left the area.

Gingoyon said that the two security guards  Manolo Ponteras, 25, a resident of Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City; and Teodoro Paypa, 30, of San Fernando, Cebu, when they learned about the theft immediately reported this to the police.

Gingoyon said that they learned about the suspects in interviews of witnesses in the area, which led to the arrest of two of the three suspects an hour later when the crime was committed.

The suspects entered from the window of a comfort room connecting the school’s guardhouse. | Photo courtesy of Cordova Police Station

The Cordova Police chief also said that they learned that the suspects hid the firearm in the cemetery in Barangay Carreta, Cebu City.

Cordova policemen then coordinated with the Mabolo Police Station policemen, and they recovered the stolen firearm at the Carreta cemetery at 9:30 a.m. 

Later the minor told police why they stole the shotgun.

“Allegedly daw, ilahang ibaligya kay ipalit og drugs daw, shabu kay manggamitay gud ni pero wa sad ta kahibaw nga ila pod ni gamiton or unsa di ba? Pero mao to ilang giingon ng ilang ibaligya didto somewhere sa Carreta [Cebu City] kay didto man daw ni nila gitago,” Gingoyon relayed claims of the 17-year-old minor on what his cohorts also have told him.

(They allegedly would sell [the stolen shotgun] because they would use the proceeds of the sale to buy drugs, shabu, because they are drug users, but we (police) also do not know if they will use these [drugs] or whatever right? But what they said was that they intended to sell the drugs somewhere in Carreta [Cebu City] because that is where they hid (the stolen shotgun)).

Gingoyon said that the two suspects allegedly admitted that they had previous theft offenses in the town.

The police chief, however, said that Flores was once arrested for theft, but they had yet to check on their records as to when this happened.

Flores was detained at the detention cell of the Cordova Police Station pending the filing of charges while the 17-year-old suspect was still at the custody of the Cordova police and was held at the town’s police station.

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