Dr. Dominador Pedracio, the alleged plastic surgeon of the leader of the Alvin Flores Gang, waves off reporters as he visits the NBI headquarters in Manila accompanied by his lawyers. (Photo by KJ ROSALES)

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said Friday the heydays of the Alvin Flores Gang are over and vowed to completely neutralize the remaining members of the notorious organized crime group.

NCRPO Regional Director Roberto Rosales said with the admission of the two arrested suspects on the identities of the remaining members of the gang, members of the Regional Police Intelligence Operations Unit (RPIOU) led by Chief Supt. Ramon Gatan are now working for their immediate arrest.

Rosales said Dennis Serquina, who was arrested last October 31 at about 11 a.m. in his house in Barangay Aloo, Umingan, Pangasinan, has admitted his participation to the Rolex Department Store heist in Greenbelt 5, Makati City last October 18. He also identified his gang mates during the interrogation made by the police after his arrest.

He admitted that he felt the pressure of the continuous police follow-up operations made against their group, forcing him to surrender and pinpoint the other members of their gang.

The NCRPO chief said that another suspected gang member also surrendered to elements of the Region 1 police in Pangasinan last November 2. He was identified as Jose Warlito Rondriguito, alias Wallet, 52, a former soldier and resident of Barangay San Rafael, San Nicolas, Pangasinan. He was immediately turned-over to the RPIOU-NCRPO after his surrender.

Robbery with homicide cases have already been filed by the NCRPO against the two arrested suspects at the Makati Prosecutor’s Office.

Rosales said the two arrested suspects identified their remaining cohorts as Joseph Puno alias Joseph, the supposed right hand of gang leader Alvin Flores; Juanito Zaldivar, alias Jr.; Rodrigo Carbonel alias Roger; Armando Domingo alias Arman, who was killed during the shootout at Greenbelt 5 Mall; Merlinda Flores, alias Merlin Mendoza; Jayvee Cuenco, individuals with such aliases as Mata, Katawan, Buboy, Taba, Enan, Chabeng (the alleged sister of Alvin Flores), Betong (brother of Alvin), Boyet (driver of the group) and Romy.

Rosales said the arrested suspects have already given them the sketches of their cohorts who are reportedly hiding in Batangas, Laguna, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, and Pangasinan.

The NCRPO chief also revealed that just days after the Greenbelt 5 robbery, they raided the safehouse used by the gang in Lucero St., Barangay Mabolo, Malolos Bulacan.

Rosales said during the operation, police operatives were able to retrieve valuable information regarding the identities of the other suspects and their possible location.

The police also recovered guns, ammunition and other related paraphernalia.

In Cebu City, the family of robbery gang leader Alvin Flores, who was killed in a shootout in Compostela, Cebu, has sent a lawyer to verify the body that now lies at a funeral parlor in the city.

Attorney Cayetano Santos, representative of the family of Flores, went to the funeral homes around 10 a.m. Thursday to take photographs of the body and have them verified by Flores’ family.

Santos said the family sought assistance from the Commission of Human Rights-Manila to know where the body of Flores was.

As this developed, the CHR in Central Visayas has launched its investigation on the circumstances behind the alleged shootout that took place in a resort in Compostela town, killing Flores and three others.

Alejandro Alonzo of the Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas (CHR-7) director said their office sent personnel to the area to interview witnesses. He said they might invite the agents who were involved in the operation.

Joint NBI agents from Manila and Cebu went to the apartment in Compostela to serve arrest warrants against two of the gang members.

But the suspects allegedly fought back and a firefight ensued. Suspicion of a rubout was raised after a caretaker claimed that only two checked into the apartment yet four suspects were killed by the NBI.

Meanwhile, a suspected hideout of the Alvin Flores Gang was surrounded by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation in Barangay Tabang, Plaridel, Bulacan.

Members of the intelligence service of NBI-Manila encircled the house after receiving reports that a huge cache of firearms and uniforms used by the gang in their robbery-hold-up activities are stored inside the house.

The PNP said the gang was responsible for at least nine bigtime heists in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces this year alone.

Supt. David N. Poklay, deputy police director for intelligence and investigation, said police records show that the Alvin Flores gang was responsible for the robberies at the Park Trade Center in Alabang, and at the ATM booth at the South Luzon Expressway, both in Muntinlupa City; Suy Sing warehouse and gas depot, both in Paranaque city; ATM booth inside the North Luzon Expressway in Pampanga; a shopping mall in Harrison Plaza, Manila; Walter Mart shopping center in Quezon City; Semicon building in Pasig City and the Greenbelt 5 mall in Makati City. (With reports from Dexter A. See, Mars W. Mosqueda Jr., and Freddie C. Velez)