Robbers struck in BF Homes Parañaque

Three armed men robbed the elder brother of Parañaque Mayor Florencio Bernabe at a restaurant in Parañaque City Wednesday afternoon.

Senior Superintendent Ronald Estilles said Dr. Renato “Boy” Bernabe and his wife Baby were among those who fell prey to the group of robbers who struck at the Bacolod Chicken House at President’s Avenue in Barangay BF Homes Parañaque.

Police said the robbers who were armed with handguns barged at the restaurant at around 1 p.m. and immediately announced the holdup.

Two of the suspects immediately went to the table occupied by the Bernabe family and divested them of their jewelry and cellular phones.

The suspects also took the valuables from about a dozen customers who were dining at the time. Taking advantage of the fact that there was no security guard posted at the restaurant, the heist took only about a few minutes to complete.

The suspects escaped without taking anything from the cash register of the restaurant, police said.

Surprisingly, members of the Parañaque police headquarters arrived at the crime scene ahead of the police personnel from a nearby police community precinct beside the Barangay BF Homes which is just a stone’s throw away from the restaurant.

Estilles said his men is now conducting follow up operation for the immediate capture of the suspects, who reportedly belongs to the FX Robbery Gang who are responsible for the series of robberies on public utility vehicles.

Police said they are now hunting down one of the alleged leaders of the gang identified as Bobby Baliber, whose picture, along with his other cohorts, are now posted in various business establishments BF Homes.

Baliber, a resident of Purok 5, Sampaloc, Site 2, Barangay BF Homes, had been arrested in November 26, 2006, along with two other accused Joel Lazarito and Cris Dadibas, on charges of robbery.

The subdivision residents had resented the move of Mayor Bernabe who ordered the force-opening of the gates of the BF Homes to public traffic, which has reportedly sparked a rash of crimes in the village, including pick-pockets, snatchers, car theft, and cellular phone robbers.

[Daily Tribune by Ben Gines, Jr.]

Face The Issue

1. Allegation: Romeo G. Roxas of Green Circle Properties and Resources, Inc. logged and cleared their area at Umiray-Dingalan wantonly.

The Facts: The 28,000 hectare Umiray-Dingalan area is a titled property bought from a former owner who have the area logged under an SPLTL (Special Private Land Timber License). The area as far back as the mid of the 18^th century was claimed and cleared by Inspeccion General de Montes and later, during the American Regime was titled under the Torrens System.

Since Roxas’ Green Circle is not a logging company but on realty and development, logging was stopped. The former operator applied for salvage and retrieval operations with the DENR and was the one responsible for logs coming out of the area.

Also, as the area is an alienable and disposable having been a titled property, Green Circle therefore has all the rights to develop their area subject to limitations and provisions of an Environmental Compliance Certificate issued by DENR re: development activities. Hence, for al intents and purposes and as deemed required, Green Circle can cut-down all trees without any violations as per P.D. 705 – the Forestry Reform Code.

2. Allegation: Romeo G. Roxas is not an heir of a Philippine Veteran.

The Facts: The father of Romeo Roxas is an employee of the Commonwealth and is directly providing services to the US Government as a Teacher/ Superintendent. Hence the father is a veteran and therefore the son is an heir.

3. Allegation: He (Romeo Roxas) burns money and cut down trees

The Facts: Romeo G. Roxas is a monetarist who is well-versed with the Keynesian Theory. He doesn’t burn money but instead creates wealth through his development efforts. He implements or wants to implement theories and practices learned and experienced.

The writers/hackers of the undocumented articles in the internet are “journalist” of the AC-DC genre. Romeo G. Roxas proved he can never kowtow with their “extortions” and hence, earned their ire.