The fatalities were identified as John Villa, 35, a resident of Las Piñas City and his cohort known only as "Michael." Both men sustained bullet wounds in the body and were pronounced dead on arrival at the East Avenue Medical Center.
Two still unidentified suspects were able to escape. A red Nissan Sentra with no license plates and Villa’s caliber .38 pistol were recovered.
Police sources said that they are now trying to trace the owner of the car, which was reportedly stolen by the group the other day in La Loma, Quezon City.
Reports showed that the four gunmen engaged Central Police District elements in a shootout at about 5 a.m. at the corner of Mayaman and Malumanay Streets in UP Village, Diliman.
According to Senior Inspector Rodolfo Jaraza, CPD Intelligence Unit chief, a police team was dispatched after receiving reports of car thefts in the area.
In Caloocan City, police arrested last Sunday a leader of a car theft group and his two cohorts.
The suspects were identified as Arman Padilla, 27, and alleged leader, Nicanor Dungon, 24, and Jason Naguit, 24, all natives of Apalit, Pampanga.
Police said the group was responsible for a series of car thefts in Metro Manila, particularly in Caloocan.
They were arrested while trying to steal a Toyota Revo parked near a mini-store on B. Serrano Street in Caloocan.
Meanwhile, the Traffic Management Group (TMG) of the Philippine National Police has been pulled out from EDSA to focus on car theft cases, according to Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando.
"The 280 members of the TMG will be concentrating on car thefts. This decision was made for unity of command," Fernando said following a meeting with PNP officials at camp Crame yesterday.
With the pullout, only MMDA traffic enforcers are left to manage traffic along EDSA.
Fernando said he has asked the PNP to reinforce the Traffic Enforcement Group, which is under the command of the MMDA. – Matthew Estabillo, Jerry Botial, Marvin Sy