Charges of robbery with homicide and illegal possession of firearms were filed against members of the notorious Alvin Flores Robbery Group in robbing a high-end watch store in a posh mall in Makati City last month.

The consolidated cases against Rene Batiencela, Dennis Serquina and Jose Rodriquito were raffled for hearing before the sala of Judge Zenaida Galapate-Laguilles of Makati Regional Trial Court branch 143 last Thursday.

The cases stemmed from the three suspects’ admission that they are among the heavily armed men clad in bomb squad uniforms who barged into the Rolex Store in Greenbelt 5 last October 18. They pocketed at least 64 pieces of Tudor watches worth P6.2 million and caused at least P2 million worth of damage to the store.

According to NBI counsel Ross Galicia, Batiencela admitted involvement to the group and the recent robbery incident after an encounter with authorities in Barangay Compostela in Cebu province.

Batiencela survived the October 29 encounter but four of his colleagues, including gang leader Alvin Flores himself, were killed on the spot.

Flores was among the other named respondents in the same case, including Rolando dela Cruz, Walter Mutya, Merlinda Flores, Joseph Puno, Juanito Saldivar and several others known merely by their aliases.

A separate case of robbery was also filed before the sala of Laguilles involving Flores and his accomplices for the June 9 mugging of the Union Bank branch in Amorsolo Street, Barangay San Lorenzo.

The gang used a Toyota Hi Ace van (XDD-249) as a getaway vehicle and carried away some P4.4 million, a caliber 38 revolver, and handheld radio belonging to the bank.

The Alvin Flores gang is known to be behind the numerous brazen robberies around the metropolis. Gang members usually pretend to be uniformed authorities to intimidate security personnel and the public when breaking in.