AGENTS of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) early morning Friday shot and killed a most wanted leader of a “notorious” robbery-holdup gang operating in Metro Manila and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region during a gunfight in San Miguel, Bulacan, NCRPO director, Brigadier General Jonnel C. Estomo said.

The official said that a team of NCRPO Regional Special Operations Groups-Regional Intelligence Division officers was forced to defend themselves when the suspect started firing at them while about to be accosted in his hiding place in Zone 2, Barangay Biclat in San Miguel municipality.

The 7:30 a.m. Friday gunbattle erupted as members of the NCRPO RSOG-RID led by Lt. Col. Wilfredo Sy and Maj. Broderick Noprada, backed up by a team from the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) and the San Miguel Municipal Police Station, surrounded the suspect’s place and tried to arrest him, said the official in a report to PNP chief, Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr.

Estomo said that the suspect was shot in his right abdomen and right shoulder and was taken to the nearby Emmanuel Hospital, where an attending physician declared him dead upon arrival.

The official said that the NCRPO-RID, headed by Col. Romano V. Cardiño, launched a massive operation to account for the suspect and other members of the “Rey Brothers Organized Crime Group” a few weeks ago.

Estomo said that the slain suspect is the principal accused of killing one Jorge Padilla during a robbery at the victim’s house in South Crest Subdivision in Tanza, Cavite, on December 17, 2019. The suspects stole an estimated P1.7 million worth of cash and jewelry during the deadly heist.

The same group was also linked to the killing of retired SPO4 Supremo Casabuena on December 21, 2017, in Bgy. Sabang in Lipa City, Batangas. The suspects stole P60,000 in cash and other valuable items from the retired cop-turned rice dealer.

The NCRPO chief also said that the suspects are also wanted for their role in killing Nick Banayo, who lost P10,000, three assorted firearms, and a cellphone to the armed men during an attack in Tanza, Cavite, on December 2, 2019.

Estomo said that the slain suspect is the subject of four standing arrest warrants for robbery with homicide, murder, and robbery issued by four different regional trial courts in Batangas and Cavite.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon