Davao death squad ‘kills’ 2 phone thieves

DAVAO CITY — The dreaded Davao death squad struck again late Thursday afternoon, killing two suspected cellular phone snatchers in broad daylight along the busy Ponciano Reyes street here.

The victims, Ryan Martinito and PJ Taporco, were identified by two pickpockets whom responding policemen arrested during the commotion.

Martinito and Taporco, who reportedly had just been released from prison, were said to be walking behind the University of Mindanao campus when two unidentified men shot them.

The vigilante group has been going after criminal elements such as drug pushers in this city since the early 1990s. Its members rode on motorcycles and sometimes wore ski masks when carrying out their missions.

There have been no cases filed against the shadowy group by any relatives of its victims.

The killing of the two suspected thieves happened a week after City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte warned criminals, particularly cellular phone snatchers, to watch out.

When he took over City Hall last July, Duterte asked criminal elements here, including drug pushers and their financiers, to flee the city and ply their illegal trade elsewhere. — Edith Regalado