2 suspected robbers slain in Cavite

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – An early morning crime spree that victimized taxi drivers ended in the death of the two suspects, who fought it out with policemen in Bacoor City, Cavite on Sunday.

Superintendent Rommel Estolano, Bacoor City police chief, said the slain men, whose identities remained unknown, allegedly held up two taxi drivers at gunpoint in separate incidents in Imus and Bacoor cities in just a matter of hours.

The first incident happened past midnight in Barangay (village) Pasong Buwaya in Imus when the suspects held up taxi driver Alwin Asejo and carted away his P4,700 cash.

Asejo told the police the suspects tied him up and commandeered his taxi with plate number UVD358 until they abandoned him and the vehicle in Barangay Niog in the adjacent Bacoor City.

Asejo sought help from concerned citizens and reported the crime to the Bacoor police.

But the robbers’ escapade did not end there, Estolano said.

He said at around 2 a.m., the suspects held up another taxi driver, identified as Leonard Labonite, in Barangay Molino 3, Bacoor. The suspects, this time, drove away with Labonite’s taxi with plate number RNS528.

Estolano said the first incident prompted the police to set up chokepoints in the city, until the authorities spotted the stolen taxi in Barangay Molino 7 at around 4:20 a.m.

But “instead of (turning) themselves in, the suspects fired upon the approaching policemen,” Estolano said in a text message.

The police retaliated, killing both suspects instantly, he said.

The police recovered the stolen vehicle, the cash taken from the first taxi driver and the suspects’ firearms, Estolano said. (Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon)