3 hijackers slain in Caloocan shootout

MANILA, Philippines - Police gunned down three of eight hijackers during an early morning shootout in Caloocan City yesterday.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Jude Santos identified the slain suspects as Randy Mendiola, 38, and Lazaro Herrera, 45, both residents of Bulacan; and Rey Gonzales, a resident of Cavite.

Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr., Northern Police District director, said Herrera was an original member of the Ozamis robbery group and the leader of the hijack suspects.

“We are still determining the real identity of Gonzales for we recovered another identification card from him with a name of a certain Andy Pangilinan of Pampanga,” Santos told The STAR.

Senior Superintendent Isagani Reyes, head of the criminal investigation unit in Manila, said one of those slain may have been the gunman involved in the killing of Public Works Undersecretary Ramon Aquino, who was gunned down last March 11 as he was being driven to a meeting with President Arroyo.

“We are digging further into the suspect’s involvement in Aquino’s assassination and we are coordinating closely with the investigator-on-case and witnesses,” he said.

Reyes said the gang involved in the shootout specializes in robbery and assassination. Police earlier said Aquino’s killing could have been politically motivated.

Santos said the suspects hijacked a cargo truck (PKV-697) loaded with 15 tons of steel bars worth P400,000 along C-3 Road in Caloocan City at around 2 a.m. Police later recovered only one-fourth of the cargo.

The vehicle belongs to the Golden Express Trucking owned by Jorge Hao See, 66, of Leveriza street in Pasay City. The truck came from the Pag-asa Steel Corp. plant in Manggahan, Pasig City and was on its way to Cargolift, a delivery service firm, in Baseco Compound in Manila when it was hijacked.

Truck driver Mario Goma, 36, told police that at least eight armed men, two on a motorcycle and six others in a Toyota FX, flagged down and boarded their vehicle just before 5th Avenue.

At gunpoint, the suspects blindfolded Goma and his helpers Ramon Morales, 45, and Danilo Erulano, 22, and bound the victims’ hands.

The armed men forced the victims out of their truck and herded them to their Toyota FX while the others took the cargo truck. The victims were dumped unharmed on Galino street, still in Caloocan City.

About two hours later, Caloocan City police Sub-station 2 operatives, led by Chief Inspector Rogelio Ramos, and personnel from Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, headed by Superintendent Jonel Estoma, spotted an overspeeding cargo truck along along 8th Avenue.

The lawmen tried to accost the driver of the truck. Instead of stopping, its occupants fired at the policemen, triggering the shootout.

Two of the injured suspects died on the way to a hospital while the third was killed on the spot. Police recovered from the slain suspects a .357 revolver, a .40 caliber pistol and a .45 caliber pistol with bullets. The other five escaped during the firefight, Santos said.

He told The STAR in a post-operation interview that if he had his way, “I wanted them alive. That would also mean we can get to the fence, get more information on previous heists and the identities of the rest of the gang.”

Pagdilao commended his men yesterday for their vigilance and told them “to keep up the good work” as he directed Santos to hunt down and arrest the remaining suspects.