PANGASINAN -- A municipal mayor vehemently denied Tuesday any involvement in the Greenbelt 5 robbery in Makati City after one of the suspects mentioned that he worked for the official.

Mayor Leoncio Zaldivar III of San Nicolas town in this province said he has nothing to explain or be afraid of after his name was mentioned by one of the members of the “Alvin Flores” gang, which was involved in the Greenbelt 5 heist last October 18.

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In an interview over Aksyon Radyo Pangasinan, Zaldivar admitted that Dennis Serquina and Armando Domingo -- two of the robbery suspects -- indeed worked as security guards and helpers at his piggery/poultry last year. They, however, only stayed for about three days because he could only give them allowance, Zaldivar said.

He also said that another suspect, Warlito Rodriquito, who is from San Nicolas, was a municipal employee working as utility personnel but has not been reporting for quite a long time.

“Ipinahanap ko siya nong hindi siya pumasok ng halos isang buwan. Ang sabi niya, inaasikaso daw niya yong claims niya bilang dating sundalo. Almost three weeks pagkatapos non, ipinatawag ko siya ulit pero ang sabi, hindi daw siya makapasok dahil sa kanyang rayuma (I looked for him when he did not report to office for almost a month. He said he was processing his claims as a soldier. Almost three weeks later, I called him again but he said he can’t report to work because of rheumatism),” Zaldivar explained.

The mayor said he had no knowledge or inkling that the three robbery suspects are involved in any criminal activities.

He said he accepted Serquina and Domingo before because they were looking for a job.

He said he only learned about the involvement of the three in the Greenbelt 5 robbery after Ilocos Police Director Ramon Gatan and Pangasinan Police Provincial Director Percival Barba went to his house last Sunday and asked him some questions.

Zaldivar added that last Monday, Rodriquito’s wife went to him asking for help as her husband would like to surrender.

He said he directed the local police to fetch Rodriquito from his hiding place.

Rodriquito was later turned over to Pangasinan Governor Amado Espino Jr. It was him who admitted that he acted as look-out when other members of the Alvin Flores gang robbed the Rolex store inside Greenbelt 5.

Serquina, on the other hand, was arrested by lawmen on Saturday in Umingan town in Pangasinan.

“Ang sabi ko kina General Gatan, makikipagtulungan ako hanggat sa abot ng aking makakaya. Gusto kong ipaalam sa ating mga kababayan na tuloy-tuloy ang ating trabaho dito sa munisipyo lalo na sa rehabilitation ng mga nasira na mga dike nong bagyong Pepeng (I told General Gatan that I will cooperate to the best of my ability. I would like the public to know that we are doing our job here in the municipality, especially in the rehabilitation of the damaged dike due to Typhoon Pepeng),” Zaldivar said.

Barba, for his part, said that his men are conducting background and record check on whether or not the Pangasinense members of the Alvin Flores gang had criminal records in the province.

The Alvin Flores group was tagged as responsible for the heist inside Greenbelt 5 in Makati City last October 18 after video footage taken by closed-circuit television cameras revealed the suspects wearing black uniforms similar to the one worn by members of a police bomb squad.

The group was also responsible for several other bank robberies in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, and was even involved in the bloody Parañaque shootout last December 2008, which resulted in the death of a dozen of their members. A police officer and an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) along with his young daughter were also killed in that shootout.

Four of the suspected members of the gang died recently after a shootout with a joint team of Cebu and Manila National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) operatives in Compostela, Cebu.

One of the fatalities was identified as the group leader, Alvin Flores. One other gang member, Rene Batiancila, was arrested. (Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre/PNA/Sunnex)