Reports reaching Chief Superintendent Prospero Noble, Calabarzon police director, said the two suspects, who died from multiple gunshot wounds, remain unidentified.
After the encounter, police arrested Joel Pagayuman, 34; Cris Pagayuman, 31; Leonard Lat, 20, all residents of Candelaria, Quezon; and Edgar Pacifico, 38, of Tiaong, Quezon.
Senior Superintendent Elmor Sarona, San Pablo City police chief, said the suspects were involved in a series of highway robberies in San Pablo City and Quezon.
Sarona said his men received a call from a barangay official that suspects in the Jac Liner robbery last April 26 were hiding somewhere in Barangay San Ignacio.
He said a combined team of the police and the Guardian Brotherhood responded to the call, intercepting the suspects as they were about to leave their hideout.
Instead of giving up, the suspects drew their guns and fired at the lawmen, triggering the shootout. — Ed Amoroso