Cops bust robbery, gun-for-hire syndicate

A police officer guards Rammy Moquete, one of Iloilo province’s most wanted persons, after he surrendered Monday. (Photo by Tara Yap)

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

 

A NOTORIOUS group of robbers and gun-for-hires operating in Iloilo province is unraveling after one of their members was arrested and spilled everything to the police.

 

Rammy Moquete, a native of Dingle, Iloilo, surrendered to Mayor Bienvenido Margarico Monday after he was tagged as the leader of the so-called Moquite gang, a group engaged in robbery-holdups and assassinations.

 

Moquete’s name surfaced after Willy Lopez was arrested by the Iloilo Provincial Police Office (IPPO) Special Operations Group at Brgy. Liboo, Dingle over the weekend for theft charges.

 

Lopez said he is a member of the Moquite group that robbed a lending firm in Maasin, Iloilo last year.

 

Lopez also admitted their group’s role in the botched heist of the delivery van of an Iloilo City-based feed mill in San Miguel town December 23, 2008. He was wounded in a shootout with police officer Hernando Saguan who responded to the robbery incident. He escaped from the crime scene until his arrest.

 

Lopez had also admitted to the shooting to death of Eddie Pedrajas, a cousin of suspected drug lord Richard Prevendido, in Jaro, Iloilo City August 2008. He said their target was Prevendido but the gunmen mistook Pedrajas for their actual mark.

 

Lopez said he was the one who conducted the surveillance operations on Prevendido and even gave details of their plan to IPPO investigators.

 

Senior Supt. Ricardo dela Paz, IPPO director, said a certain “Boyet” ordered the hit on Prevendido for P200,000.

 

Dela Paz said he has the full name of the alleged mastermind in the Prevendido/Pedrajas case but refused to reveal it until they have filed appropriate charges against the suspects.

 

Lopez also tagged their group in the killing of Honda Cars supervisor Rustico Vega January 9 after he was asked by their leaders to drive one of the two getaway motorcycles used in the hit.

 

But Lopez refused because he was still recovering from his wounds during the foiled San Miguel robbery.

 

Lopez also revealed that drivers of a taxi fleet in Iloilo City either delivered the guns used in their operations or transported them to their safe houses. He also mentioned the names of a certain Gabriel Poblacion and “Henry” as other members of their group.

 

Margarico said he fetched Moquete at Brgy. Pangilihan, Janiuay near the boundary of Lambunao municipality.

 

Margarico said Moquete, a native of Dingle, Iloilo, surfaced upon hearing Lopez’s allegations in the media.

 

Margarico brought Moquete to the IPPO headquarters in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo for investigation and verification of his police records.

 

Moquete, according to court and police records, has two standing warrants of arrest for robbery and assault. He also has two pending robbery in band cases lodged in Lambunao and a robbery case in Cabatuan.

 

During the tactical interrogation, Moquete also owned up to the San Miguel highway robbery and robbery-holdup of another lending firm in Pototan. But he denied any involvement in the Pedrajas and Vega slay cases.

 

Moquete said the Vega contract was Lopez’s own transaction and he has no hand in the hit. He added

that he does not engage in assassinations as what Lopez claimed.

 

Moquete said the contract on Vega’s head was offered to their group but he did not participate in the planning and execution.

 

WELL-ORGANIZED

 

According to the IPPO intelligence records, the Moquete group is an offshoot of the Roger Palma robbery group. Palma was arrested last year by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and is now detained at the Iloilo Rehabilitation Center.

 

Edgar Cordero, the alleged gunman in the assassination of Ajuy vice mayor Ramon Rojas, took over Palma’s gang until his death in Butuan City September 2008.

 

After Cordero’s death, the Moquete group has figured prominently in the intelligence holdings of the police.

 

Moquete and his group were also accused of robbing an ukay-ukay collector last year. He also has a pending case for assault in Lambunao but he was able to post bail.

 

Dela Paz said the Moquete group has contacts within the firms they target reason why they manage to accomplish some of their operations.

 

In the case of the Maasin lending firm heist, a cook within the company gave the Moquete group vital information on the establishment’s operations and the movements of its collectors.

 

A helper of the feed mill’s client in San Miguel tipped the gang members of the delivery van’s routine, dela Paz said.

 

“This group is well-organized and equipped because they have motorcycles and guns at their disposal. And they have good intelligence network,” the IPPO chief said.

 

Dela Paz said they will relay the information they gathered from Lopez relative to the Pedrajas and Vega slay cases to the concerned police units for their evaluation. (With reports from Tara Yap)

Best friend beheaded farmer

 

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

 

THE best friend of a farm worker from Lambunao, Iloilo is suspected of beheading the latter in Dumangas, Iloilo January 1.

 

Senior Supt. Ricardo dela Paz, Iloilo Provincial Police Office director, said they have pinpointed the culprit in the beheading of Eduardo Lozarito, 18, of Brgy. Cayan Oeste, Lambunao.

 

Dela Paz said witnesses fingered John Sandoval of Sitio Buhang, Brgy. Ilaya First, Dumangas as the one who severed Lozarito’s head in the evening of January 1.

 

Lozarito’s body was found in a rice field January 2.

 

Dela Paz said Sandoval is Lozarito’s best friend. The suspect even allowed the victim to stay in his house while working in Dumangas.

 

Aside from Sandoval, the police also tagged brothers Reagan and Raymond Silva and Elpidio Legaspi, all residents of Ilaya First, as suspects in the grisly incident.

 

According to Dumangas police investigation, Lozarito earned Sandoval’s ire after the victim had a relationship with the suspect’s sister.

 

Lozarito was last seen alive in the evening of January 1 while answering a call in his cellphone. He then went out of Sandoval’s house until he was found dead the following day.