BY MA. THERESA LADIAO
ILOILO City – Three robbers barged into an e-tap (electronic transfer and advance processing) machine located outside a mall in Barangay Danao, City Proper district and carted away around P340,190 in cash.
Major Shella Mae Sangrines, spokesperson for the Iloilo City Police Office, said the incident was reported by area supervisor AJ Loro, 27, from Barangay Jibao-an, Pavia, Iloilo after Dustin Perez, an e-tap employee, discovered the machine had been forcibly opened and its cash box stolen around 9:25 a.m. on Wednesday, October 9.
Initial investigations indicated that the machine’s locks had been destroyed by the suspects.
Yesterday, October 10, police arrested two suspects believed to be involved in the robbery in a hot pursuit operation.
Captain Roque Gimeno III, chief of the Iloilo City Police Station 1 (ICPS1), confirmed that Jun-jun Beboso, 27, a resident of Sagay City, Negros Occidental, was apprehended in Jaro district while Serapio Campusano, 39, of Oton, lloilo was captured in Pavia, Iloilo. Beboso and Campusano were found in possession of P29,050 and P25,700 in cash, respectively.
The other suspect identified as Ariston Solis, a resident of Sta. Barbara town, remained at large. Gimeno said he was the one who allegedly tampered with the e-tap machine.
Gimeno added that Solis, an employee of the company, had knowledge of how the machine operates as he was responsible for counting the money before depositing it to the bank.
“This suggests the crime may have been an inside job,” added the CDEU chief./PN
