4 hijack suspects shot dead in Batangas

BATANGAS, Philippines – Four suspected hijackers were killed in a pre-dawn encounter with police in Sto. Tomas town this province on yesterday, authorities said.

Senior Superintendent Rosauro Acio, Batangas police director, said the four suspects, who were onboard a Hyundai Starex van, fired shots at policemen at a checkpoint in Barangay San Roque, triggering a shootout, at around 4:15 a.m. yesterday.

Prior to the encounter, operatives of the Batangas police, Regional Intelligence Division, Regional Special Operations Group and Sto. Tomas police received a report that a heavily armed group hijacked a two-ton aluminum van in Turbina, Calamba, Laguna at around 2:30 a.m. yesterday.

The groups laid out a dragnet that led to the killing of the four suspects, two of whom were identified as Jun Castillo and Roberto Rio, who were previously jailed for bank robbery.

Police recovered a caliber .45 pistol at the encounter scene. The two other slain suspects were still unidentified as of press time.

The hijacked van was later found in Cabuyao, Laguna, but it was not clear if its load – meat products – was still there.

“We have been monitoring the activities of the group, which was said to be behind a series of hijackings of trucks from an industrial site in Calamba and on the Star tollway,” Acio said. – Arnell Ozaeta, Ed Amoroso