Alleged bank robber in Cebu killed in ambush

CEBU CITY, Philippines - Nine days after surviving a shootout with policemen in a foiled robbery, Recolly Igoy was shot dead by a lone gunman in an ambush Wednesday afternoon shortly after being released on bail. Igoy, 22, and his cousin Ronalde Enario, 22, of Poblacion, Medellin, Cebu were killed in the ambush on the national highway in Barangay Pakigne, Minglanilla, Cebu. Igoy’s wife Analie, 23, and his sister Chona, 21, survived the attack. Analie was injured on the left hand while Chona was hit in the left shoulder. Chona immediately underwent an operation as the slug that tore her shoulder reportedly hit her bones. For Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Carmelo Valmoria, the death of Igoy was “unfortunate" because police was considering him to become a state witness. “We would have utilized him to help pin down the other members of the group. He could have facilitated in the prosecution (of the other members of the robbery group)," Valmoria told Sun.Star Cebu Wednesday. Igoy is the third robbery suspect in Cebu to have been killed shortly after posting bail. Igoy’s certificate of discharge from jail issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Ramon Codilla was found by personnel from the Scene of the Crime Operations (Soco) 7 at the crime scene. Analie and Chona were first rushed to Minglanilla District Hospital but were later transferred to Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. Both Valmoria and Minglanilla Police Station Chief Romeo Santander said one of the angles they are looking into is the possibility that Igoy was liquidated by his cohorts in the group headed by former Kuratong Baleleng Gang member Roy Fernandez. Personal grudge was also eyed as possible motive. Igoy and Nelson Gutierrez Jr., who was killed in the foiled robbery Rural Bank of Cebu South, Inc. in Carcar City last April 28, are said to be members of the Fernandez group. The group is also linked to the P400,000 heist of a money-changer shop last April 25 in Cebu City and the Mactan Rural Bank, where P1.5 million was taken, in Basak, Lapu-Lapu City last Jan. 18. Gutierrez died in a shootout with responding Carcar police operatives led by SPO1 Meliton Agadier. Igoy was injured during the incident. Valmoria ordered Santander to prioritize the investigation and identification of the people behind Igoy’s killing. He said police personnel were also provided to secure Chona and Analie at the hospital. Santander, in an interview with reporters, said the incident occurred at around 1 p.m., about 40 minutes after Igoy walked out of the Carcar City Jail. According to the record relayed by JO1 Archie Sayon to Sun.Star Cebu last night, Igoy was released at 12:20 p.m. He was fetched by Analie, Chona, and his parents. Santander said the report that reached him indicated that prior to posting the P100,000 bail, an unidentified person approached Analie and advised her not to go on with paying the bond. Igoy boarded a white Kia Avella (YAR 653) driven by Enario. Igoy took the backseat together with his wife and mother while his younger sister Chona occupied the front seat. Santander said Igoy’s father boarded another vehicle, a Starex car, and followed the car boarded by Igoy. When Igoy’s convoy was at the national road in Pakigne, Minglanilla, a lone gunman on board a motorcycle pumped bullets on the Kia car, hitting the window on the driver’s side. He also hit the right side window, where Igoy was seated. Santander said it was not yet known who among the two fatalities were shot first. Judging from the bullet holes in the car, Santander said the shots were made at close range. If the shots were fired meters away from the car, Santander said, the glass window shields would have shattered. He believes Igoy was the primary target. The police, though, are checking on the background of Enario to determine why he was shot by the triggerman. Initial body inspection conducted by Soco 7 team led by Insp. Leo Casul showed that Igoy died of gunshot wounds in the head while Enario was wounded in the left side portion of his body. According to witnesses’ accounts, Santander said, at least three shots rang out before the car was spotted zigzagging until it stopped along the gutter of the road, some 40 meters away from where the shots were heard. While Santander said the gunman was alone in carrying out the crime, a witness, who owned a nearby hardware store, said that the gunman had a companion who drove the motorcycle. He, however, failed to take a closer look at the gunman or the driver because his attention was focused on the car that suddenly stopped in front of his store. Santander, however, said he will invite Igoy’s father today to shed light on why he left the area together with his wife immediately after the incident and failed to bring the injured victims to the hospital. Police investigators recovered two spent shells and documents, including Igoy’s certificate of discharge from jail. Insp. Casul said the empty shells will be submitted for ballistic test to determine the caliber and the gun used in the killing. Igoy’s death was the third time a robbery suspect killed after posting bail. On July 24 last year, suspected robbery gang member Brando Babao, 41, was gunned down less than an hour after posting bail for an illegal possession of firearms case and walking out from the detention cell of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Station. He was killed while on board a taxicab together with his family on McArthur Blvd. in Barangay Carreta, Cebu City. Babao, of Barangay Valladolid, Carcar City, Cebu, died of multiple gunshot wounds, mostly in the head. Last Sept. 4, Rodulfo Atega Jr., alias Dupong, who was a member of the disbanded Casimero “Meloy" Garcia Robbery Group, was also shot and killed by motorcycle-riding men. He was in a taxicab when ambushed at the junction of Gen. Maxilom Ave. and D. Jakosalem St., Cebu City. Atega had just been released on bail from the Cebu City Jail in Barangay Kalunasan. In both incidents, the Cebu City Homicide Section believed they were killed by their cohorts in their respective robbery groups to prevent them from squealing to police. On the possibility that Igoy was killed by the police, Valmoria said it is a remote possibility. He said the police do not “take the law into our hands." Besides, if the police wanted to kill Igoy, they would not have bothered to bring him to the hospital after the shootout in Carcar City last month. Valmoria also discounted the possibility that Igoy was killed by vigilantes, tagging it as mere speculations. - Sun.Star Cebu