Philippine National Police chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos Sunday ordered the National Capital Region Police Office, led by Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao, to place four personnel of Taguig City Police Station under restrictive custody pending an inquiry into their alleged participation in a robbery of a Japanese expat and his Filipina partner in Pasig City shortly after midnight on Saturday.

Carlos instructed Danao to place the commander of Sub-Station 1 of Taguig City Police Station on administrative relief to preclude any possibility of undue influence in the investigation.

Carlos said he wants to get to the bottom of this incident and unmask all persons involved.

This developed as the NCRPO stepped up pursuit against two more robbery suspects that include dismissed PNP member Ferdinand Fallari and a certain Ruwel Galang who both eluded arrest.

Under custody by the Pasig City Police Station are Staff Sergeant Jayson Bartolome, Corporal Merick Desoloc, Corporal Christian Jerome Reyes, and Patrolman Kirk Joshua Almojera.

The four were tagged as among seven suspects who staged a robbery at No. 8 Sta. Elvira St., Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City at 12:10 am on Saturday and held at gunpoint live-in partners Joana Marie Flores Espiritu, 26, and a Japanese.

According to initial reports, the suspects forced the Japanese to open a vault and scooped out an estimated P30-million cash and an expensive mobile phone.

While escaping on board four motorcycles, the suspects were engaged by alert police responders triggering a brief shootout that resulted to the death of suspect John Carlo Atienza and the wounding of Bartolome. PNP-PIO