Tanauan City market administrator killed

BATANGAS, Philippines – The 60-year-old public market administrator of Tanauan City this province was gunned down by two men who were subsequently slain by pursuing lawmen yesterday afternoon.

Reports said Manolo Roxas, administrator of the Tanauan public market, had just taken his lunch and was smoking outside his office when the two men approached him from behind and shot him with .45-caliber pistols.

Roxas was rushed to the CP Reyes Hospital but died while being treated for gunshot wounds in the head.

A Special Weapon and Tactics (SWAT) team chased the fleeing gunmen who were on board a motorcycle and they were cornered in front of the Ramonita Subdivision in Barangay Darasa, a few kilometers away from the public market.

A shootout lasting for a few minutes ensued, resulted in the death of the two gunmen, who remained unidentified as of press time. 

SWAT team member PO2 Roberto Janoras was wounded in the gunfight. Hit by stray bullets in the public market were vendors Pol Hernandes, 16, and Gemma Alipio, 49.

Tanauan City Mayor Antonio Halili suspects that personal grudge, not work-related issues, had something to do with Roxas’ killing.

“As much as possible, we wanted to arrest the gunmen alive so we could investigate them to know who was behind the killing but (they) opened fire on the responding policemen, resulting in an encounter,” Halili said. – With Ed Amoroso