2 rob suspects killed in Malabon shootout

MANILA, Philippines - Two unidentified robbery suspects were killed during a reported shootout with police officers on patrol in Malabon City at past midnight yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr., Northern Police District director, said an NPD intelligence team led by Senior Inspector Leoben Ong encountered the suspects in Barangay Longos at around 12:30 a.m.

The policemen were on patrol when they chanced upon three men fleeing from a parked Eljean taxi (PYF-217) at the corner of Salmon and Pampano streets.

Ong and his men ran after the suspects, who shot at them, triggering a firefight. Two of the armed men were killed, while the third suspect escaped.

Police recovered from the slain men two .38 caliber revolvers and a wallet containing documents and a driver’s license belonging to Eljean taxi driver Henry Defante, 51, who was found hogtied and blindfolded at the backseat of his cab.

Police Officer 3 Noel Roxas said three men flagged down Defante in Balintawak, Quezon City and told him to bring them to Letre Road in Malabon but upon reaching C-4 Road the passengers robbed him at gunpoint.

One of them drove the taxi toward Dagat-Dagatan in Barangay Longos, where police chanced upon them escaping.

“C-4 Road in Barangay Longos is a crime-prone area. A week ago a young female student was robbed and killed there by unidentified armed men,” Roxas told The STAR.

Roxas said one of the slain suspects closely resembles the robber who killed the student.

The bodies of the slain suspects were brought to Nate Funeral Homes in Dagat-Dagatan, Caloocan City for autopsy but as of press time yesterday they remain unidentified and unclaimed. – Pete Laude