ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Luzon devider Lookout in twin pawnshop robberies in Cebu City nabbed

Lookout in twin pawnshop robberies in Cebu City nabbed

Published Aug 16, 2024 10:26 am

CEBU CITY — A former barangay tanod or watchman was arrested after he was identified as the alleged lookout in the robbery of two jewelry shops in Barangay Ermita here last week.

455355454_377477488717449_3215213153292474576_n.jpg

MICHAEL Puno is arrested for alleged possession of illegal drugs and an unlicensed firearm in Barangay Apas, Cebu City on Friday dawn, August 16. He was implicated in the twin robberies in Barangay Ermita, Cebu City last week.(Contributed photo)

Police responding to an armed person alarm arrested Michael Obaob Puno in his home in Barangay Apas here at past 1 a.m. on Friday, August 16. Puno was a "habal-habal" or motorcycle taxi driver and a former barangay tanod in Barangay Apas.

Seized from Puno was a .38 revolver and two packs of suspected shabu with an estimated value of P340,000.

Police Lt. Col. Maria Theresa Macatangay, deputy city director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office, said Puno was the person who was caught on closed-circuit television (CCTV) being in the area before and after the August 8 twin robberies.

“This particular suspect, his face was exposed in the CCTV footage. He didn’t have a facemask that's why he was easily identified or at some point, he was wearing a facemask but his face can be seen,” said Macatangay.

Macatangay said Puno’s role in the robbery was to keep the firearms that the suspects used.

“His participation was proven based on the evidence that we recovered. He was present before, during, and after the incident. His participation after the incident, he was the one who disposed of the firearms that were used in the heists,” said Macatangay, the spokesperson of the special investigation task group  created to solve the crime.

Puno denied involvement in the crime, saying he was feeding the game fowls of a relative at the time that the robberies happened.

He said he was surprised when police arrived at his home in Barangay Apas and arrested him for illegal possession of firearms and possession of illegal drugs.

Puno admitted that he transported a man to a motel in Talisay City on the day that the robbery happened.

His passenger turned out to be Marcial Ponesto, the person who  was arrested on Tuesday night, August 13, in Mandaue City after he was caught driving a Mitsubishi Adventure that was allegedly used as the robbers’ getaway vehicle.

The vehicle is said to be owned by a policeman who is assigned in the National Capital Region. The lawman is one of the persons of interest in the crime.

Puno said he believed that it was Ponesto who implicated him in the crime.

Although Puno denied involvement in the crime, Macatangay said there is strong evidence that would prove his participation in the robberies where at least P145 million worth of jewelry was stolen.

Macatangay did not comment on reports that an inmate at the Cebu City Jail is the mastermind of the robbery.

The inmate is allegedly a member of the Mindanao-based Parojinog Robbery Group.

Related Tags

Pawnshop Cebu City Robbery Barangay tanod
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.