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Robber repents as docs fear he will be paralysed
By
KIT BAGAIPO
REGUYA |
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A
member of the Meloy Garcia Robbery Group who survived
seven gunshot wounds has been regretting his criminal
acts after doctors declared him permanently paralyzed
from the waist down.
Cresencio
"Bruts" Reguya, 27, had been bedridden after
a critical surgery to extract bullets lodged in different
parts of his body.
Reguya,
together with cohorts, was fleeing the shootout with
security guards of the Bank of Commerce when he was
hit by a shotgun blast on his back from one of the guards.
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Another
bank security hit him with a .45 caliber round.
One
bullet dislocated a disc in his spinal column that caused
the paralysis.
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More
than two weeks after the incident, Reguya is still in
pain as doctors just re-stitched the surgical incision
through his chest down to his navel.
One
more bullet is still lodged on his left shoulder. Unless
his other wounds heal, doctors will not perform another
surgery on Reguya.
Reguya
said he feels guilty and remorseful of what he did as
he was informed that one of the security guards, Remegio
Cañizar, died from the shootout while two others
were also wounded.
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Reguya
admitted that he shot Cañizar with Meloy Garcia.
Reguya
likewise admitted that he participated in four of recent robberies
carried out by the group - the Petron gas station in barangay
Dao, Du Ek Sam in Cebu City, holdup of an Island City Mall
cashier and the Bank of Commerce heist.
Bruts,
the seventh in a brood of eight, grew up to parents who are
both farmers in barangay Magsaysay, Talibon town.
After
finishing primary and secondary studies in his hometown, Reguya
took up electrical engineering at the University of the Visayas
in Cebu City.
He
did not finish the course but later enlisted to be a member
of the Citizen's Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) in
2002.
Reguya
was assigned in Talibon until his termination from service
last January when he joined Garcia's gang.
He
disclosed former gang leader, Harris Atega was still alive
when he came across members of the group.
The
death of another gang member, Rodolfo Atega, likewise saddened
Reguya. Atega was felled by assassins in Cebu City a few minutes
after posting bail and was released from detention.
VITAL
TESTIMONY
Aside
from planning to turn state witness against other robbery
group members, Gelvin Nuez, Gerardo Fuentes, Arsenio Polo,
Sofronio Remoreras and Garcia, police said Reguya holds information
that would solve the murder of a barangay captain in Magsaysay,
Talibon.
Reguya
said he is willing to testify against Garcia and the others,
if just to be given a reprieve due to his physical condition.
Police
would not transfer Reguya to jail unless he is in "good
physical condition."
Garcia,
Nuez, Fuentes, Polo and Remoreras were transferred to the
City of Tagbilaran Rehabilitation Center (CTRC) in Cabawan
last Friday.
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