BATANGAS CITY, Batangas -- Two men who had attended a court hearing and were on their way home to Manila were shot by four gunmen while traveling on the Star Tollway in Tanauan City Friday morning, police said.

Superintendent Willie Atun, Tanauan City police chief, said Hilario Soriano, 47, a businessman, and Harold Magay, 30, were on their way home from a court hearing in Batangas City on board a Honda Civic at about 11:20 a.m. Friday when four gunmen shot at their vehicle at Km 68, Trapiche village.

Magay suffered a bullet wound on the head while Soriano was hit in different parts of the body.

They were rushed to a hospital by their unscathed driver, Danny Tomon.

Tomon informed security personnel at the expressway's exit in Sto. Tomas town about the shooting.

As of noon Saturday, the two victims were in critical condition and still under observation in a hospital.

Atun said the four assailants gained entry to the highway through a hole in the Star Tollway's fence in Trapiche then went to the expressway's bridge.

"The suspects waited for the victims' vehicle to arrive and shot them from the bridge," said Atun.

The gunmen, on board a Toyota Corolla Altis, were approaching the nearby Santor village when their car collided with another vehicle.

Police arrested one of the four gunmen who remained in the vehicle while his three companions fled on foot.

Atun requested the Inquirer not to publish yet the captured suspect's name pending investigation.

Police recovered nine empty shells from M14, two from M16, and one from cal. 30 carbine rifle.