Vigilante group kills 7th crime suspect

MANILA, Philippines - A group of vigilantes shot dead yesterday a suspected drug pusher, possibly their seventh victim since last year, a police official said.

Eastern Police District director Chief Superintendent Lino Calingasan said Reynaldo Bartolome, 33, of Barangay Pinagbuhatan, was listed in the EPD’s watchlist of active drug pushers.

Bartolome was released recently from jail after serving his sentence for a drug case.

Calingasan directed Superintendent Ramiro Bausa, Pasig City police chief, to identify the vigilante group members and charge them in court.

“They may be reducing the number of bad elements in Pasig City but it is against the law, so we must go after them,” Calingasan said.

He said he also received reports that the killing was a result of a rivalry between two gangs in the illegal drugs business.

Bartolome was shot dead by a gunman at about 1:20 a.m. yesterday. The gunman then placed a sign near the victim’s body, claiming Bartolome was a drug pusher and connected to “Macmac Payapa,” who is also a suspected drug pusher.

Last Thursday, suspected vigilantes gunned down suspected snatchers Marlon Gardoze, 23, and Andrew Salangoste, 24, near a supermarket in Barangay Palatiw.

The suspects also placed a placard near the victims’ bodies, identifying them as snatchers.

The killing of Bartolome, Gardoze and Salangoste occurred during Calingasan’s term while the four other victims were killed during the tenure of former EPD director and now Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Leon Nilo de la Cruz.

Two suspected vigilantes were arrested last year but the Pasig City prosecutor’s office ordered their release pending further investigation.       – Non Alquitran