2 men slain in Malabon

MANILA, Philippines - A tricycle driver and a jobless man were slain yesterday in a village in Malabon City tagged by the police as a haven for criminals.

Chief Inspector Bong Sta. Teresa, Malabon City police investigation chief, said that Ernesto de la Cruz, alias Barok, 25, jobless, a resident of Barangay Catmon, died on the spot after he was shot in the face.

Police Officer 1 Benjamin Sy said De la Cruz was walking along Hernandez street in Barangay Catmon at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday when he was approached by at least four unidentified men. One of the men shot him in the face with a .380 caliber pistol. The attackers fled on foot toward C. Peres street.

Another victim, tricycle driver Raymond Dizon, 31, also a resident of Barangay Catmon, succumbed to a stab wound in the chest while on the way to the Malabon community hospital.

At around 3:30 a.m. yesterday, Dizon and his friends – identified only as Ian and Bukol – were drinking with Catherine Nunez, 31, in front of the victim’s house.

When the drinking buddies became engaged in a heated argument, Ian and Bukol reportedly ganged up on Dizon and one of them stabbed him once in the chest.

Nunez brought Dizon to the Malabon community hospital for treatment but he was declared dead on arrival at about 4:30 a.m.

The suspects in both killings remain at large.

Police said a large shantytown at Sitio 6 in Barangay Catmon is a known haven of criminals, including suspected hired guns linked to the recent unsolved murders in Malabon City.