Police have arrested a suspect in the gun-poking and assault incident on Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (Edsa) in Mandaluyong that transpired last week. Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said that the incident is a robbery, but kidnapping charges will also be filed against the gunmen.
In an interview with Radyo Inquirer 990 AM on Monday, Roxas said a suspect has been arrested and that manhunt operations are still ongoing after the arrest.
“The manhunt operation is still ongoing but we can confirm a suspect has been arrested. There are still about four to five suspects who remain at large,” Roxas said in Filipino.
He confirmed that the incident was “basically a case of robbery.”
But the Interior Secretary said they will also file kidnapping charges against the gunmen after allegedly abducting a person inside the Toyota Fortuner sport utility vehicle (SUV).
On Monday last week, Sept. 1, a photo of several men seemingly assaulting an SUV with their guns drawn surfaced after a motorist on Edsa, on the boundary of Santolan and Ortigas, took a snapshot of the incident and posted it on Twitter.
The post has immediately become viral and caused a stir on social media, which prompted an investigation by the police. A few days later, the Mandaluyong City Police turned over copies of the photo and Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) that captured the tense moment to the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Cybercrime Group.
Police have already taken into their custody the alleged vehicles spotted by the witness.
Roxas said the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) gave him an estimate that the police will finish the manhunt operation by Monday afternoon or Tuesday.
He also denied reports that the kidnapped victim was a student of a Catholic school in San Juan City.
This came after a text message went viral that the Edsa gunmen took the daughter of a Filipino-Chinese man who purportedly drove the SUV.
“The police went to the school. Fortunately, the students were all accounted for,” he said.
On Sunday, the PNP announced that the NCRPO chief, Police Director Carmelo Valmoria, will hold a press conference on the recent development in the gun-poking incident on Monday afternoon.
With report by Julliane Love De Jesus
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