2 more tagged in killing of 3 boys

MANILA, Philippines - Two alleged cohorts of three suspected criminals killed in a gunbattle with policemen on Commonwealth Avenue last Friday are facing multiple murder charges for the deaths of three teenage boys whose bodies were found dumped at a vacant lot, police said yesterday.

Superintendent Crisostomo Mendoza, commander of the Quezon City Police District-Station 6, said the suspects’ group was allegedly into robbery and used the teenagers as “runners.”

According to Mendoza, Ador Siguin, 26, a native of Samar and a Bahala na Gang member reportedly residing in Barangay Commonwealth; and an alias “Benjie” are scheduled to be charged with multiple murder this weekend. Both of them remain at large following the killing of their alleged cohorts in a shootout Friday night.

“The two teenagers found dead on Friday were indeed snatched at the same time the other boy – who was found lifeless on Thursday – was seized,” Mendoza said in an interview.

Mendoza based this conclusion on a statement by Efren Cabacungan’s mother that her son was with Vincent Mahilon, 14, and Albino Crisostomo, 15, Wednesday night. The three boys left their homes in Barangay Payatas on Wednesday night and had been missing since then.

Cabacungan, 15, was found dead from gunshot wounds on Thursday morning while Mahilon and Crisostomo were stabbed dead and found stuffed in sacks Friday morning. Their bodies were dumped along Motorolla Street in Barangay Commonwealth.

Mendoza said according to a police informant, the two remaining suspects and two still unidentified individuals were in the same group as the three men who were killed in a shootout with police Friday.

One of the three slain suspects, a certain Andrew, was tagged by a witness as among those he had seen loading Cabacungan’s body into a tricycle in the area where the victim’s body was later found.

Policemen went around areas Andrew reportedly frequented until they saw him along San Mateo Road near the corner of IBP Road at around 1 a.m. on Friday. However, as police were approaching, Andrew and his two companions immediately boarded a red Isuzu Crosswind (XLE-532) and sped off.

A chase ensued and upon reaching a tunnel bound for Commonwealth Avenue, two of the suspects opened fire, prompting policemen to shoot back.

The Crosswind which the suspects used turned out to be a stolen vehicle and the firearm used by Andrew was found to have once belonged to Police Officer 3 Antonio Ataylar, who was killed in a bus robbery last Nov. 14 in Samar.

“We believe the said criminal group had used those teenagers as runners – utilizing them as lookouts, making them pass through narrow holes to get to wherever their targets were or even having them smash the glass windows of their target vehicles,” Mendoza said.

He said even Cabacungan’s mother told them about her son’s past arrests for petty theft.

Mendoza said the criminal group staged its activities in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. He cited information that Andrew was allegedly among those behind a past robbery of an RC Cola warehouse in Novaliches. He also said they received a tip that the group would have staged another heist in Bulacan had they not been neutralized last Friday.

Mendoza said that once the group successfully stages a robbery in Metro Manila, they would “lay low” in Samar, and would even do some hits there.