COTABATO CITY, Philippines - An off-duty Marine soldier was killed while four bystanders were wounded in a shootout here Tuesday between two guns-for-hire and pursing policemen and soldiers.
The encounter erupted after Jean Bakal and Mingz Almansa killed Technical Sgt. Leopoldo Tan Monsenera, a member of the Philippine Marine Corps, while driving his motorcycle at a busy stretch of the Sinsuat Avenue here.
The victim, assigned in Zamboanga City, was on his way to Lebak, Sultan Kudarat for a holiday break, bringing with him toys for his children.
Bakal and Almansa, armed with pistols, were about to escape when responding policemen and combatants of the Army’s 5th Special Forces Battalion cornered them in a residential area a block away.
Instead of voluntarily turning themselves in, the duo opened fire on the pursuing soldiers and policemen, provoking a gunfight.
Bakal, who was wounded in the encounter, was eventually subdued and arrested while Almanza managed to run away.
Four villagers, John Christopher Galan Lugyano, Richie Hagimit, Alfie Palanting and Danny Benito, who were trapped in the crossfire, sustained gunshot wounds in different parts of their bodies.
Investigators are still trying to establish the motive for the murder of Monsenera, according to the city’s police director, Senior Superintendent Raul Supiter.