Police identified three criminal gangs who are mostly responsible for the series of robberies in the Talomo District area.
Supt. Dinosio Abude, the newly installed station commander of the Talomo Police Precinct, said the one of the groups is affiliated with the Amarille group, which disbanded last month when police caught the mastermind and key members. The others are identified as “bayot group” and “Dumalag group.”
Members of the Bayot group and Dumalag group are mostly minors, he said. They are responsible for robbery and burglary incidents in subdivisions, commercial establishments and houses in the area. Bayot group have at least 15 homosexuals as members while the Dumalag group has at least 11 members.
“We cant file charges against them because they are minors,” he said, although he added that police filed a case against one member of the Dumalag group because he was no longer a minor.
Abude differentiated the modus of the two groups. The Bayot group targets subdivisions and establishments while the Dumalag group are teenagers who collect plastic and scrap irons as their front but actually look for opportunity to steal.
“They are scavengers in the street but they rob houses and establishments if they see that no one is around,”he said.
Dumalag group operates in Sandawa, Times Beach, Ecoland Subdivision, Matina Executive Homes 1 and 2. On the other hand, the Bayot group are responsible of the robbery incidents in Woodridge subdivision and some parts of Ecoland.
Sr. Insp. Gretchen Cinco, deputy spokesperson of the Davao Police Regional Office, admitted that the cases involving minors have become a challenge for authorities particularly in how to stop them from committing crimes.
Motorcycle-riding robbers
Abude said that some members of the Amarille group who escaped arrest have formed their own groups.
“Some of the members of the group (Amarille) who are not yet apprehended are maybe behind these robbery incidents,” he said. If not, there may be some new groups out there but police have yet to verify this.
“We are still monitoring the modus operandi of these criminals so that we can identify them. I will coordinate the station commander in Toril about the Amarille group,”he said.
Sr. Insp. Dionisio Escobanez, station commander of Toril Police Precinct, said that they have all the records regarding the Amarille group which has 13 criminal charges for robbery incidents.
Eight of the complainants came from Toril, three from Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, one from Calinan and another from Panabo. The group started in late October of last year.
The members of the Amarille group usually use motorcycles and guns to steal expensive gadgets that can easily be sold like laptops and mobile phones. Abude also want to confirm if some of its members actually kill their victims.
Last month, two unidentified robbers riding in tandem in a red motorcycle shot dead a trader in front of his wife and mother-in-law in San Lorenzo Village, Puan, Talomo District.
Josue Aqui died on the spot inside his vehicle after he was shot on the back of his head by the two gunmen around 8 p.m. The victim had just parked his multicab, with his wife Lolita and mother-in-law Flora Sequińa, 77, on board, when the two men sneaked up from behind and ordered them to surrender their belongings.
The robbers, who were armed with a pistol and a bolo, shot the victim on the head before escaping on board a red Honda Wave motorcycle.
The bag contained P12,000 and cell phone worth P3,500.
The victim’s wife described the gunman as 5’4” in height, between 30-35 years old and had curly hair. There are no details on the physical characteristics of the other robber, meanwhile, apart from his height which was approximately five feet nine inches.
On Feb. 13, a realty agent was shot on her leg after she refused to give her bag to robbers who were riding a motorcycle in tandem in Barangay Baliok, Talomo District in the evening.
Sheryl Calupi, 32, reported that robbers rode past them and shouted at the passenger to hand over the money.
On the same day, a passenger of a public utility jeepney via Mintal-Roxas was robbed by a man around 10 a.m. in Santo Niňo, Matina, Talomo District.
Aprilyn Ayay, 32, said a man poked a knife at her before declaring hold-up. The robber took her wallet with P2,060 cash.
Sr. Insp. Leonardo Pamplona, deputy chief of the Investigation Detection Management Group of the Davao City Police Office, said robbers started using motorcycle in their operations since it can be bought for cheap.
Not enough cops
The growing population of the area is also reason why they are having a difficult time containing petty crimes. He said a population of around 300,000 should have at least 600 cops. The precinct, however, has only 123 policemen.
Abude advised all residents in Talomo area to install security measures like erecting a fence or gate. Owning dogs should also help as well as hiring security guards.
“If ever you will leave your house inform your neighbors so that they can monitor,”he said.
Talomo registered 2,890 cases last year and only 489 of this number were solved. It was also number one in cases against properties such as robbery, theft, and carnapping after recording a total of 1,187 cases.
Supt. Dionisio Abude, station commander of Talomo Police Precinct, advises residents to be vigilant because the number of police officers are not enough to cater to everybody.
