A running gunbattle between suspected members of a notorious robbery gang and pursuing policemen in Parañaque City left 16 people dead, including a man and his seven-year-old daughter, and five others wounded Friday night.
National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leopoldo Bataoil said the gunmen, some armed with M-16 rifles fitted with grenade launchers, thought they had been cornered and fired at everyone in sight.
“When they found out they were being trailed... they went berserk,” Bataoil said. “They fired all around, including at a flammable tanker beside a warehouse.”
Police said the gunmen were remnants of the Kuratong Baleleng robbery and kidnap-for-ransom syndicate.
The fighting erupted at around 9:30 p.m. Friday on Sampaguita Avenue, United Parañaque Subdivision 4, West Service Road. Wounded in the firefight were three police officers, a village watchman and a security guard.
The slain father and daughter were inside their Isuzu Crosswind when caught in the crossfire. They were identified as Alfredo de Vera, a seaman, and his daughter Leah Alyana, 7.
Bataoil initially identified seven of the 10 slain suspected robbers as Avelino Abayaon, Rey Olarte, Ricarte Chaves, Baltazar Decurian, Camilo Pastrana, Dennis Basaig and Danilo Tranca.
Truck helper Jesiry Vicemayor and an unidentified companion were also killed. An exploding M203 grenade fired by the fleeing suspects killed a security guard who remained unidentified as of press time.
Also killed in the firefight was PO2 Nixon Vinasoy of the Special Action Force.
Wounded were Superintendent Eleuterio Gutierrez Jr., commander of the PNP’s anti-hijacking Task Force Limbas who was taken to the Parañaque Medical Center for a gunshot wound to the head.
Also rushed to the same hospital were Chief Inspector Eleuterio Cabe of the PNP SAF and Inspector Erick Roranes also of SAF.
The slain suspects “were identified through the documents and identification cards found in their possession by the PNP scene of the crime operatives. The identities of the remaining three are still being established,” Bataoil said.
Recovered from the suspects were several identification cards, four M-16 rifles, two M-203 grenade launchers, two .45 caliber pistols, two grenades, handheld radios, police jackets, bolt cutter, big mallet and assorted magazines and ammunition for M-16 rifles.
But a late breaking report from the PNP Public Information Office listed 12 suspects, three civilians, and one policeman killed. The report also said the wounded included three policemen, one barangay tanod, and a security guard.
Tipped off
Authorities earlier had received tip that the group was planning to rob a warehouse, and police deployed dozens of policemen around the area to apprehend the suspects, according to Bataoil.
He said at least three of the gunmen were able to escape.
Bataoil said the police are now looking for some of the robbers who escaped on a commandeered black Toyota Vios with license plate XTG-256 after firing a grenade at a gatehouse at the entrance to the community.
The group has been blamed for the killing of a bank teller and two guards of an armored truck that was picking up money from a bank at the University of the Philippines campus last month.
Bataoil said he has ordered an investigation into the deaths of the civilians, particularly De Vera and his daughter.
He said there were reports that the lawmen might have mistaken the victims’ van for one of the suspects’ getaway vehicles.
Indiscriminate firing
The heavily armed suspects were on a white and a maroon Toyota Revo when they were detected by police operatives.
Bataoil said this triggered the deployment of TMG and SAF troops at possible escape routes.
When the group sensed the presence of police and Navy intelligence operatives, they started firing indiscriminately while trying to flee.
The ensuing firefight immediately killed the eight occupants of one of the Revo utility vans.
The other vehicle tried to flee escorted by two men riding in tandem on a motorcycle. Police gunned down the two when their motorcycle hit a lamppost.
Suspects rounded up
The Manila Police District (MPD) nabbed seven men suspected of participating in “midnight heists” in Bacoor, Cavite yesterday morning.
MPD director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales said the suspects may have also participated in the Parañaque shootout.
Sixteen men were initially picked up by operatives of the MPD’s District Police Intelligence and Operations Unit (DPIOU), led by Chief Inspector Audie Madrideo, at a compound in Talaba II, Bacoor town.
During tactical interrogation, seven men admitted being part of the Waray-Waray, Kuratong Baleleng, Alvin Torres and Rocha robbery gangs.
Rosales said all 16 suspects shall be subjected to paraffin tests to determine if they recently fired a gun to bolster the police allegations that they were involved in the Parañaque shootout.
Three of them, identified only by their aliases “Kalag,” “Bokbok,” and “Jekjek,” were confirmed to have taken part in the robbery-slay of a lawyer and two policemen in Ermita, Manila last May 12; an aborted robbery attempt at St. Scholastica’s College on Oct. 31; a robbery at a beverage warehouse in Sta. Mesa on Sept. 26; the fishport robbery in Navotas on Nov. 23; and other heists in Caloocan City and Makati.
The suspects used police and SWAT uniforms in their operations perpetrated mostly at night and dubbed by the police as “midnight heists.”
Jekjek was positively identified as the gunman in the killing of Manila policemen PO3 Jose Ysmael Santos and PO2 Francisco Neri, who responded to the robbery-slay of lawyer Alfredo Dy after the suspects carted away his P1 million. Jekjek was reportedly shot by one of the two slain policemen but survived.
Kalag was seen on footage taken by closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras carrying an M-14 rifle during several heists perpetrated by the group.
Bokbok was reportedly part of the group that attacked the Navotas fishport.
According to a police officer, who requested anonymity since he is not the official spokesman, the gang members do not personally know each other. He said their financier only hires them once a company is identified as a target.
“The only qualification to be hired is that you have a firearm and that you are ready to shoot,” the source told The STAR.
Intelligence chief Superintendent Leo Francisco temporarily withheld the real names of the suspects pending verification. “They are so wily that they sometimes give fictitious names,” he said.
Police are conducting a follow-up operation to catch the gang’s alleged financier, who reportedly operates a fleet of taxicabs to hide his criminal activities. – With Nestor Etolle, Cecille Suerte Felipe and AP