5 kidnap suspects slain in Pangasinan shootout

DAGUPAN CITY , Philippines   – Five suspected members of a kidnapping and robbery gang were killed in a shootout with police along the De Venecia Highway Extension here past midnight yesterday.

Superintendent Mariano Luis Verzosa Jr., city police chief, said elements of the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER) and the Armed Forces’ intelligence network had kept watch over the syndicate based on information that it would abduct someone in this city. 

Verzosa said PACER, led by Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez, a former police director in this province, coordinated the operation with them a few days ago.

The breakthrough came when the syndicate stole a white KIA van along A.B. Fernandez Avenue here the other day.

A police mobile team spotted the stolen van in Bonuan Binloc this city, but its occupants sped away as they were about to be accosted, prompting a police chase.

The suspects fired at the police and an exchange of gunfire ensued. No one among the lawmen was injured but their patrol vehicle bore bullet holes. 

The five slain suspects, four of them bearing Armed Forces’ identification cards, were rushed to the Region 1 Medical Center here but were pronounced dead on arrival.

In a report, the Dagupan City police initially identified the slain suspects as Elisco Emuslan, 34; Jesus Matienzo Jr., 40; Joey Tindugan, 34; Glenn Ares, 37; and Edgardo Estrella, 39.

Police are verifying the suspects’ Armed Forces ID cards.

Verzosa said the syndicate, whose other members have yet to be neutralized, operates in central and northern Luzon and the National Capital Region.

The syndicate was tagged in the abduction of two teenage sisters here in 2007, the attempted kidnapping of a kindergarten pupil in Lingayen town in July 2008, and the robbery-holdup of an Indian national in Barangay Binday last June 13.

Police said it was also behind the robbery-holdups of a businessman in Barangay Cayanga and a salesman in Barangay Angio, both in San Fabian town, and the payroll heist at the National Irrigation Administration’s office in Aliaga town last June 30, and the robbery at a grocery store in Alibangbangan, Nueva Ecija on July 24. 

Last May, joint teams of PACER, the Joint Special Operations Group and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-NCR monitored a group of dismissed soldiers planning to kidnap a wealthy businessman here or in San Fabian. To facilitate their plan, the gang stole a delivery van. 

Recovered at the encounter site were the stolen delivery van, a caliber .45 Thompson submachine gun, a caliber .45 Colt Mark, two caliber .38 Smith and Wesson revolvers, and an Uzi caliber magnum 22.

Chief Superintendent Ramon Gatan, Ilocos regional police director, who went here yesterday, said the operation showed that the police are doing their best against kidnappings and robbery-holdups and in the drive against loose firearms.

“Rest assured that your PNP is going after these criminal groups,” he said. – With Cesar Ramirez, Mike Frialde and Jun Elias