3 dead, 10 arrested in drug war

MANILA, Philippines -  At least three persons were killed and 10 others arrested in Metro Manila since Monday as the government continued its war against the illegal drug trade.

Ramon Mesa and his neighbor, Emmanuel Fajar-do, were shot dead by four masked men who barged into their respective homes along Lower Bayanihan street in Barangay Commonwealth, Quezon City.

Witnesses said the unidentified assailants entered the home of Mesa, 39, who was then helping his partner with the laundry at around 9 p.m.

Mesa’s partner said in a television interview that the assailants ordered her to go out of the house. Seconds later, gunshots rang out and Mesa was dead.

She said Mesa was once a drug user.

The assailants then went into the house of Fajardo, 34, and shot him several times as he was watching television.

In Manila, Ricardo Garcia, 51, was killed in an alleged shootout in Sampaloc Monday night.

Police Officer 3 Michael Carabeo and Police Officer 2 Ronald de Pacina were taken to the University of Santo Tomas Hospital after they were hit during the shootout.

Myla Cruz, 45, Garcia’s partner, was taken to the Ospital ng Maynila after suffering a gunshot wound in the abdomen, while his son Jomar, brother Ronnie, and friend Gregorio Asi were nabbed after trying to interfere with the arresting officers.

Police officers raided Garcia’s house at the corner of Miguelin and Florentino streets at around 7:30 p.m.

He said Garcia’s name is in their drug watchlist.

Police seized six sachets of suspected shabu and two firearms, including a .38 caliber revolver and a .45 caliber pistol, from the suspects.

Bilibid supplier?

Driver Wilfredo Santos, 51, yielded P302,500 worth of shabu in a sting in Taguig City Monday night.

Santos – a brother-in-law of high-profile inmate Ricardo Camata – is allegedly a supplier of shabu at the New Bilibid Prison.

Santos was arrested after he allegedly sold a sachet of shabu worth P6,000 to an undercover police officer, case investigator Chief Inspector Jerry Amindalan said.

Police officers did not say how many grams of the illegal drug was seized.

Mother knows best

Meanwhile, six persons were arrested in separate operations in northern Metro Manila.

Marlon Martin, 42, was arrested at around 11:30 a.m. Monday after his mother complained that he was in a pot session in a house along Kawal street in Barangay 28, Caloocan City.

Martin’s mother told police she would rather see her son in jail than dead.

At around the same time, George Jardeno, 50, and Romeo dela Cruz, 37, were arrested along M. Domingo street in Barangay Tangos, Navotas.

Two sachets of shabu were confiscated from the suspects.

Another group of police officers arrested Manolo Posadas, 37, and Rommel Silvestre, 33, in the same area and recovered three sachets of shabu from them.  

In Malabon, Winifreda Guevarra, 69, was arrested in a sting along Concepcion street in Barangay Tugatog. Six sachets of shabu were recovered from Guevarra, who is reportedly in the police’s drug watchlist.