‘Holdup me’ 2nd suspect surrenders to police

THE OTHER suspect in the La Salle Green Hills (LSGH) robbery-extortion incident which turned out to be a “holdup me” scheme surrendered to authorities Tuesday and identified the victim’s aunt as the mastermind.

Billy Bantol, a construction worker, gave himself up to Eastern Police District (EPD) director Chief Supt. Elmer Jamias at the EPD headquarters in Pasig City. His surrender came a day after Annalyn Perez confessed that she hatched the plot to extort P40,000 from the family of the victim—a Grade 8 student at LSGH—who is also her nephew.

EPD assistant spokesperson PO2 Catherine Capinpin said that while Bantol admitted his involvement in the incident, he pointed to Perez as the mastermind.

In a text message, Jamias said that Bantol claimed that he agreed to go along with the scheme of Perez, his neighbor, because he feared for his life.

On Monday, Bantol barged into the car driven by Perez who was picking up the boy at the school grounds in Mandaluyong City. Bantol initially demanded P100,000 from the boy’s father in exchange for their release but he settled for P40,000.

During a follow-up investigation, Perez suddenly owned up to the crime and pointed to Bantol as her accomplice.

Case investigator SPO4 Marifer Bala said that the family of the victim was bent on pursuing the robbery-extortion case against the suspects who are now detained at the Pasig police station.

When the family reported the case to the police on Sunday, just hours after the incident, Bala said that the boy seemed calm. But when he faced his aunt Tuesday, the boy broke into tears and appeared to be suffering from trauma.

The police said the family never thought Perez would do such a thing, especially since she had been driving for them for three years. It turned out, however, that she had a lot of debts and was desperate for money. –Jovic Yee