2 men linked to Parañaque firefight shot dead

Two robbery suspects who allegedly escaped a weekend shootout with police that left 16 people dead in Parañaque City were fatally shot after a car chase before dawn yesterday, officials said.

The suspects fired on police vehicles following their car in Caloocan City, triggering a gunfight that killed both men, Metro Manila police chief Director Leopoldo Bataoil said.

He said the two men were believed to be members of a violent gang who have posed as police officers, adding that two of the gunmen slain in the Parañaque firefight were found wearing police-style bulletproof vests.

The group has been blamed for killing a bank teller and two armored truck guards picking up money from a bank at the University of the Philippines’ Diliman, Quezon City campus last month.

Police also believe the group was responsible for the heist at the Navotas Fish Port Complex, wherein two suspects were killed by a policeman moonlighting as a security guard.

Superintendent William Macavinta, Caloocan City police chief, identified one of the slain suspects as Ludgie Alimania, aged between 26 and 30 years old.

“The slain suspects are members of the Waray-Waray/Ilonggo rob gang, which is also the group of those killed during the Parañaque firefight,” he told The STAR.

Macavinta said they “are still comparing notes with other police units to verify” the other suspect’s identity.

Northern Police District director Chief Superintendent Eric Javier received a tip past midnight yesterday that a group of at least five armed men in a forest-green Honda Accord (ZAF-349) was en route to Caloocan City, the NPD’s area of responsibility.

Javier immediately ordered Macavinta to form a team to intercept the vehicle and apprehend its occupants.

The gunmen’s car, which was also being “watched” by a Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) team led by Superintendent Jonnel Estomo, was spotted cruising the Barrio Libis service road, which leads to the North Luzon Expressway, in Barangay 160 at around 2:30 a.m. The car came from the suspects’ reported safehouse in Antipolo City.

The CIDG and a team of Caloocan policemen led by Chief Inspector Rogelio Ramos tailed the suspects’ vehicle.

“Upon learning that the police were tailing them, the suspects fired at the lawmen. In the ensuing gunbattle, two of the armed men were killed but their three companions were able to escape,” Macavinta said.

An M16 rifle, a .45 caliber pistol and five different license plates were recovered from the suspects’ car, according to Macavinta. He added that the license plate attached to the Honda Accord did not match the car’s model, “an indication that it could be” a stolen vehicle.    – With AP