MANILA, Philippines--Three men who had just taken at gunpoint a taxi driver?s cab and his earnings for the day were killed in a shoot-out with policemen on Congressional Avenue before dawn Tuesday.

Supt. Marcelino Pedrozo, chief of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Intelligence and Operations Unit, said the slain men had yet to be identified.

He added that the three held up Joel Villona, the driver of an NRG taxi cab with plate number TXR 985, in Project 6, Quezon City, at around 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Villona, however, immediately reported the robbery to the police which alerted their men on patrol to watch out for the stolen vehicle.

When the taxi cab was spotted on Congressional Avenue at around 1:50 a.m. by a group of policemen, they tried to flag it down but the driver stepped on the gas, leading to a chase.

But just minutes into the chase, the taxi cab crashed into a tree on the center island.

Police said three men rushed out of the vehicle and fired at the policemen chasing them.

A shoot-out then ensued, resulting in their death.

Pedrozo said the gunfight lasted for only several minutes.

Chief Insp. Benjamin Elenzano, head of the QCPD district homicide section, said they did not find any identification cards on the slain men.

He described them as between the ages of 25 and 30 and of medium built.

All three were dressed in T-shirts, short pants and slippers, he added.

One of them had a tattoo which read ?go pray na? on his back while another had tattoos all over his body.

Recovered from them were an improvised shotgun, a .357 revolver, a cal. .38 revolver and the P1,900 in cash they took from Villona, the taxi driver.