SPO1 Rex Delos Reyes and PO1 Jeremiah Pilapil of Iloilo City, and Delos Reyes’ younger brother Julius (a graduating Criminology student), were arrested in a police checkpoint around noon of Friday in Brgy. Jinalinan, Pandan town set up by the policemen in that Antique municipality who were alerted about the heist.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. confirmed that the two policemen were among the poorly-performing Iloilo cops he had ordered reassigned to Mindanao late last year but went on AWOL (absence without official leave).

He said he had ordered the provincial prosecutors of Antique to immediately file charges against Delos Reyes of Brgy. West Timawa, Molo, Iloilo City and Pilapil of Brgy. Don Esteban, Lapuz, La Paz, Iloilo City for illegal possession of firearms. The case for robbery in band will be filed in Aklan because the crime took place there.

In October last year, Delos Reyes filed a P5-million libel suit against Gonzalez, who accused him of engaging in illegal activities and coddling goons.

The policemen of Pandan recovered from the car of the two cops the following high powered firearms:

• M79 grenade launcher with telescope
• Uzi machine pistol with silencer
• 12-gauge shotgun
• .45 caliber pistol
• .22 caliber pistol
• eight assorted hand grenades
• 26 rounds of 40mm live ammunitions of M79
• seven rounds of .45 caliber ammunitions
• five 12-gauge shotgun ammunitions
• 100 rounds of 9mm ammunitions
• two rounds of .22 caliber ammunitions
• six magazine for Uzi pistol
• one .45 pistol holster
• six magazines pouch for M79
• six car plate numbers; and
• mechanical tools.

According to Gonzalez, Delos Reyes’ group has connections with the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB), and that the cops may have gotten their firearms from this group.

DEEPER PROBE
Chief Supt. Isagani Cuevas, Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) director, has ordered a deeper investigation.

He specifically wanted to find out if the cops were involved, too, in three sensational crimes in Iloilo City – the assassination in January this year on Honda Cars Iloilo Service Manager Rustico Vega Jr., the killing of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency agent PO2 Frederick Capasao in 2007, and the lobbing of a grenade on the house of a lawyer here recently.

Cuevas said the firearms recovered in Antique will be subjected to a ballistic examination.
Unlike Gonzalez, however, Cuevas believes that Delos Reyes and Pilapil may have gotten their firearms from fellow police scalawags who have organized themselves and are operating in the whole of Western Visayas.

DENIAL
Through his legal counsel, Atty. Plaridel Nava, Delos Reyes denied having anything to do with the Buruanga heist that victimized the delivery vans of Universal Robina Corp.

Delos Reyes used to be assigned at the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division (RIID) of the PRO-6.

Nava said he was able to talk to Delos Reyes right after his arrest in Antique, and that the cop insisted on his innocence.

Nava said Delos Reyes was in Antique supposedly to visit a friend. He denied that his client ever went to Aklan.

Delos Reyes, Nava said, also denied having any knowledge of the firearms that the policemen of Pandan claimed to have recovered from his vehicle – a black sports car.

Reached by DyFM Bombo Radyo, friends and relatives of Delos Reyes expressed disbelief on the report linking him to the Buruanga heist.

Barangay Captain Nelly Magsipoc of West Timawa, Molo said the Delos Reyeses live simple lives, so she found it hard to believe that the cop is engaged in illegal activities.

THE HEIST
The robbery of the Universal Robina Corp. delivery vans took place around 11 a.m. on Friday in Brgy. Bagumbayan, Buruanga, Aklan.

An hour later, or around 12 noon, Delos Reyes and Pilapil were stopped at the checkpoint in nearby Pandan, Antique.

Cesar Calopez, driver of one the delivery vans, said five bonnet-wearing armed men actually robbed them. The suspects took their cell phones, personal money and belongings.

The robbers failed to get any company money. Calopez said they had deposited the money in a bank much earlier.

According to Insp. Belshazzar Villanoche, Buruanga chief of police, Calopez told them that two of the robbers were onboard motorcycles and served as lookouts. The three others had a car that sped away towards Antique after the heist.