By Jennifer P. Rendon
Police investigators have identified two of the three suspects who robbed a branch of delivery firm J&T Express in Jaro, Iloilo City Wednesday evening.
Colonel Joeresty Coronica, Iloilo City police director, said witnesses identified the suspects through the police’s rogues gallery.
By witnesses, Coronica referred to Judy Ann Blanco and Blandino Paner, the J&T employees who were at the office when the robbers struck.
While the suspects were wearing bonnets, these did not fully cover their faces.
Coronica said the identified suspects are also from Jaro district and were involved in other theft and robbery cases.
CCTV footage in the area also confirmed the witnesses’ testimonies.
“Our operatives are doing a massive manhunt operation and, hopefully, we could still recover the stolen money,” Coronica said.
J&T Express on McArthur Drive, Barangay Quintin Salas, Jaro lost P622,966 cash to three armed suspects.
Blanco and Paner told investigators that they were in the middle of their evening inventory inside the office around 7:30 p.m. when the three suspects barged in.
Blanco, 26, the branch’s finance office, and Paner, 21, the company sprinter, said the suspects took the money at gunpoint.
One of the three suspects allegedly claimed, “Hold up ni. Indi kamo maghulag kay paniruhon ta kamo (This is a robbery. Don’t move or I will shoot you).”
The victims claimed that all three suspects were armed with a handgun.
Aside from the company-owned money, the suspects also took Blanco’s wallet containing three ATM cards, several identification cards, P2,000 cash, and two mobile phones. They also took Paner’s vape device.
They hurriedly left the area on board a red Suzuki Smash motorcycle.
Meanwhile, Coronica noted that he had earlier told police station commanders to remind financial institutions to install functioning CCTVs and employ security personnel as much as possible.
In the case of J&T Express, it had no security guard or CCTV cameras.
“The robbery was planned. Most likely, the robbers have assessed that they have a low chance of getting caught in the act because the company has no security guard. It’s also remotely possible for the employees to put a fight against them, who are all armed,” Coronica said.
With the said incident, Coronica again reminded establishments to abide by the city ordinance on the use of high-resolution CCTV cameras.
