4 Batangas businessmen slain

BATANGAS, Philippines – Four businessmen engaged in buying and selling scraps were killed while two others were wounded in an attack by unidentified armed men in Mabini town here Sunday night.

Jonathan Tolosa, Cesario Manalo, Isco Ramos and Miguel Aldovino, all of Barangay Sta. Maria, Bauan town, were dining in a restaurant in Barangay San Juan when they were shot at around 10 p.m.

Tolosa, Manalo and Ramos died at the scene while Aldovino died while being treated in a hospital.

The victims’ companions, Marlon Orsal and Rea Bernales, were taken to the Mabini General Hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds, said Chief Inspector Rosell Encarnacion, Mabini police chief.

Witnesses said the suspects, who were armed with an M-16 and a Carbine rifle, escaped toward Bauan in a Toyota Corolla.

Investigators are eyeing business rivalry as the motive for the attack.