ONE of the two armed, riding-in-tandem holduppers who even shot dead their two foreigner victims in Malate, Manila on Friday night had been arrested.
According to MPD Director PBGen. Arnold Abad, the arrest resulted from a meticulous backtracking and verification which yielded the identities of the ‘persons of interest’ in the said case.
In a statement, the MPD said: “The Manila Police District (MPD), through the activation of the Special Investigation Task Group MALVAR (SITG MALVAR), announces that one suspect has been taken into custody while another person of interest has been identified in connection with the recent robbery with homicide involving two Japanese nationals.”
“Through meticulous backtracking and verification of events, including the retrieval of critical CCTV footage, we have been able to establish the movements of the suspects prior to and after the incident,” the MPD added.
The MPD said that one of the suspects who happened to be the gunman himself, frequents Pedro Gil Street and was caught on video while taking off his facemask, leading to his identification.
Meantime, the second suspect who is said to be a tour guide, was located via multiple CCTV recordings in various areas that included Sheraton, Adriatico Street in Manila and Pasay City.
Coordinated efforts between the police and the hotel administration led to the positive identification of the tour guide whose name was established through his government-issued ID.
Abad assured that the MPD is doing a follow-up for the arrest of the second suspect and formed the Special Investigation Task Group “SITG Malvar” to follow up on the case.
“The SITG MALVAR team continues to work closely with the Japanese Embassy and the victims’ families as the investigation unfolds. Preliminary findings suggest that the robbery was a secondary act intended to mislead investigators, with the primary motive being a targeted hit job,” he stated.
“The MPD Command and SITG MALVAR remain fully committed to pursuing all leads and ensuring that all persons of interest are held accountable. We reaffirm our dedication to delivering justice for the victims while safeguarding the integrity of the ongoing investigation,” Abad added.
Initially reported as either Koreans or Japanese, the two victims were shot dead at around 10:45 p.m. on August 15 along Malvar Street near the corner of Mabini Street in Malate.
Based on a CCTV recording from the barangay, the victims have just alighted from a taxi when the riding-in-tandem suspects appeared and held them up.
After taking their bags, the victims were then shot by one of the suspects before he boarded their motorcycle which then sped off.
At 10:12 a.m. of the following day, the MPD-Malate Police Station 9 (PS-9) operatives were able to recover the getaway vehicle of the suspects which was found abandoned at the corner of Malvar Street and Taft Avenue in Malate, Manila.
