Ex-cop, companion dead in Cavite shootout

SAN PEDRO CITY –– A police officer wanted for kidnapping and his unidentified companion were killed in a shootout in Kawit town in Cavite province on Monday morning.

Named in an arrest warrant was Police Corporal Arlan Aguilar, who had reportedly gone on absence without leave, his brother Patrolman Jose Aguilar, and a certain Alfredo Bautista.

Judge Matias Garcia II of the Regional Trial Court branch 19 in Bacoor City, Cavite issued the warrant for a case of robbery with homicide on Feb. 12, 2018.

A report from the regional police said the shootout took place along Abaya Road in Barangay Toclong around 2:30 a.m.

According to the report, members of the Kawit police and the Anti-Kidnapping Group from Camp Crame had spotted Arlan and his male companion in Barangay Putol, Kawit.

Authorities chased the motorcycle-riding suspects until they were cornered in Toclong.

The suspects fired shots but were hit and died instantly as police returned fire, police said.

The police report said the Aguilar brothers and Bautista were members of the so-called “Gapos gang” that hogtied and gagged their kidnap victims.

Among those the group had allegedly abducted in exchange for ransom were Bureau of Internal Revenue officers.

They were also charged for the robbery and slaying of 76-year-old and retired government Insurance Commissioner Eduardo Malinis in Bacoor City in May 2014.

In a phone interview, Police Major Richard Corpuz, Kawit police chief, said the AKG was still trying to locate the rest of the gang members and if they had established a hideout in Cavite.

It was not immediately clear where the Aguilar brothers were last assigned, he said.

“(But) there were (prior) reports that they were seen around Bacoor and Imus (cities) and it just so happened that (Arlan) was encountered here (in Kawit),” Corpuz said. /lzb