Camanava’s most wanted criminal killed in shootout with cops

The leader of a notorious robbery holdup gang, listed as the No. 1 wanted criminal in the Northern Police District’s Order of Battle, was killed in a shootout with policemen Friday afternoon in Caloocan City.

Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco Jr., Northern Police District Office (NPDO) chief, identified the slain suspect as Rene Marcelo alias "Kwatog" of 985 Villa Angelica, Sitio Gitna, Kaybiga, Caloocan City.

Franco said Marcelo, who had sown terror in Camanava and nearby provinces for a decade, was the leader of the dreaded "Kwatog Gang," a ragtag group involved in robbery-holdup, car theft, hijacking, extortion and gun-for-hire activities.

Recovered at the scene of the encounter were the gun used by Marcelo, a US caliber .30 M-2 automatic carbine rifle, a long magazine with live ammunition, spent shells and paraphernalia used in sniffing illegal drugs.

Among the activities imputed to Marcelo were the holdup of a gas station in Camrin, shooting and seriously wounding a couple in Kaybiga, the killing of a barangay captain, and killing a Quezon City cop. He is reportedly also a henchman of a well-known barangay official in Novaliches.

Franco commended the team of operatives from Task Force North, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) North, Sub-station 4, Police Community Precincts 15 and 16, all off the Caloocan City police force for the feat.

Eight others caught in the act of sniffing shabu at Marcelo’s safehouse were also collared by the team was supposed to serve a warrant of arrest for multiple murder against Marcelo issued by Caloocan Regional Trial Court presiding Judge Silvestre Bello Jr. when the encounter and the subsequent arrests took place.

Caloocan City police chief Senior Superintendent Benjardi Mantele identified the drug users as Ulysses del Mundo, 37, plant manager, of 3 Principe Tupas street, Doña Rosario Subd., Novaliches, Quezon City; Alejandro Pangilinan, 45, seaman, of 231 Silangan Subdivision, Barangay Llano; Roldan Carredo, 43, widower, caretaker, of 1549 Villa Angelica, Sitio Gitna, Kaybiga; Hipolito Gonzales, 66, tricycle driver, of 617 Gonzales Compound, Barangay Llano; Rene Sto. Tomas, 30, seaman, of 983 Villa Angelica Subdivision, Sitio Gitna, Kaybiga; Roderick Tayo, 36, telecoms engineer, of 637 Gemini street, Greenville Subdivision; Loreto Estrenero, 32, jobless, of Angelica Subdivision; and Pedro San Diego, 69, widower, jobless, of 1034 P. De la Cruz street, Sitio Gitna, Kaybiga, all of Caloocan City.

Station Investigation and Detection Management Bureau (SIDMB) chief Superintendent Dionicio Borromeo said the team chanced upon the eight who were having a drinking session with Marcelo.

Sensing the presence of the lawmen, Marcelo ran up to the house’s second floor and locked himself in. This prompted Superintendent Rey Castro, ground commander, to order the police to lob a tear gas through the open window to flush out the suspect.

Armed with a US-made carbine, Marcelo exchanged shots with the police but was soon overpowered. In two minutes, Marcelo lay dead from several bullet wounds in the body. Marcelo’s body was brought to the Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO) offices for autopsy as appropriate charges have been filed against the illegal drug users.