Hours later, the leader of the notorious "Waray-Waray" robbery gang lay dead and five of his followers handcuffed by the police who engaged them in a shootout in Fairview, Quezon City.
Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco said yesterday a caller, who had known of the Magic Eye program that rewards tipsters, provided information on the gang’s whereabouts to Station 5 of the Central Police District.
A composite team was quickly dispatched to a shanty in Bukid Area in Iris Street in Barangay West Fairview to apprehend the suspects.
About 10 police officers showed up at the address at about 1:35 a.m. and were about to make an arrest when they were met by gunfire from the suspects. The policemen retaliated and a shootout ensued.
Johnnie Faltado, 42, of Makati City, the group leader, was hit several times in different parts of the body. The rest of the suspects later surrendered.
Faltado was rushed to the Far Eastern University Hospital in Fairview, where he expired at about 3 a.m.
PO1 Darwin Oraya was hit in the right arm and is currently receiving medical treatment at the East Avenue Medical Center.
Arrested were Joel Aguirre, 24, his younger brother Joey, 20, Villavicencio Gonzales, 24, and his brother Christian, 21, and a 14-year-old boy whose name is being withheld for being a minor. All are residents of Barangay West Fairview. Police said one gang member was able to escape during the shootout.
Recovered from the suspects were a caliber .38 revolver, a 12-gauge shotgun, and two empty shells.
The suspects are believed to be members of the Waray-Waray Gang, that robs passengers of public utility vehicles in Fairview.
Velasco said the suspects were positively identified by one of the gang’s previous victim. Taxi driver Edgar Urata, 26 was robbed of his earnings in West Fairview just the other night.
Velasco praised the arresting officers, especially Oraya, the wounded rookie cop.
"His determination to perform his duties in the all-out war campaign to free the streets of crime exemplifies the ideals of the police institution," the Metro police chief said.