Five cities jack up suspects’ body count

Eight more men were killed either by the police or by unidentified gunmen in five cities in Metro Manila, adding to the body count of crime suspects that had surged during the first week of the Duterte administration.

In Manila, the police shot two men dead—including a detainee—while the body of another male was found with a sign tagging him as a Chinese drug lord.

Rolando Resido, 51, was about to be taken to Gat Andres Bonifacio for a checkup when policemen from the Manila Police District’s (MPD) Smokey Mountain station shot him inside their patrol car Tuesday morning.

In a phone interview with the Inquirer, PO3 Jonathan Ubarre, the officer on the case, declined to answer when asked for more details about Resido’s death. He said he should not talk about it—then dropped the call.

Supt. Redentor Ulsano, chief of Raxabago police station, claimed that Resido fought with his escorts inside the patrol car parked on Simon street Barangay 103.

The killing happened just after Resido and two other suspects—Arnel Ocfemia and Mark Louie Santiago—were arrested for alleged drug use.

Resido was the second person to be killed by the police in Tondo since Sunday. The other was Gilbert Pondario, who also allegedly tried to fight the officers who were arresting him.

San Andres ‘shootout’

Meanwhile, a robbery suspect identified as Conrado Beroña III, 36, was killed in a “shootout” around 11:40 p.m. Tuesday in San Andres, said Supt. Robert Domingo, chief of MPD Sta. Ana station.

Domingo said a woman earlier went to his office to report that her stolen iPhone had been traced to Tenorio Street. It was not established if Beroña was actually the man who took the phone, but Domingo said the suspect “ran away” upon seeing a police team arrive at the area, leading to a chase.

In the Tondo district, a man was found dead on the Delpan flyover around 4:40 a.m. SPO3 Paul Vincent Barbosa of the MPD Moriones station said a sachet of “shabu” and a note describing the man as a drug lord were found near the body. The note also identified him as “Li Peng Hui.”

The number of police killings and summary executions in Manila has risen to 15 in a span of four days.

Muntinlupa, Parañaque

In Muntinlupa City, alleged drug pusher Jun Vivo was killed Tuesday night after a buy-bust operation ended in a gun battle between him and PO1 Patrick Lambiquit on Purok 4 Extension, Barangay Alabang, the police said.

Vivo, who used the aliases Bangus and Kareem, was shot dead by Lambiqiuit after the undercover officer tried to arrest the suspect following a transaction for three sachets of shabu, said Senior Insp. June Reyes, investigation chief of the Muntinlupa police.

Reyes said Vivo pulled out a .38-cal revolver and fired at Lambiquit but missed. Lambiquit fired back and hit the suspect three times.

The drug bust was set up based on a tip that Vivo was part of a group once headed by Abraham “Tatay Muslim” Mahurom, who was killed by the Muntinlupa police in a March 3 shootout in Sitio Ilaya also in Alabang. Senior Insp. Peter Aquino was wounded in that encounter.

In Parañaque City, 40-year-old Marvin Toston was shot at the corner of Gabriel and Tomas Claudio Streets in Barangay Baclaran also on Tuesday night. Before fleeing, the gunmen placed a piece of paper on the body that bore a message in Filipino: “I’m a pusher! Don’t be like me!”

The Parañaque police chief, Senior Supt. Jose Carumba, said bystanders saw Toston being shot twice in the head by two men on a motorbike. Based on interviews conducted by investigators, Toston had sold drugs mostly to jeepney and pedicab drivers in the area, he said.

Pasay, San Juan

In Pasay City, two suspected drug users were killed while two others were arrested on Tuesday after the sister of one of the suspects informed the police about their ongoing shabu session.

Authorities identified the slain suspects only as Itoy and Ogag, who tried to resist arrest at 828 C. De Guzman St., Barangay 177 in Malibay, Pasay.

Arrested were Genelyn Bautista, 24, jobless, resident of Maricaban, Pasay; and Joseph Osorio, 31, said to be a member of Batang City Jail and resident of the house where the drug session was allegedly held.

A sister of Osorio alerted the Malibay police precinct about the session inside her brother’s room on the ground floor of their house. A team led by Insp. Maynard Pascual responded and saw through a slit on the door that the suspects were taking shabu, a police report said.

Bautista and Osorio sensed the lawmen’s presence and rushed the second floor, where they were cornered by Pascual’s men.

Itoy and Ogag, meanwhile, pulled out an icepick and a .38-cal. revolver and attacked the arresting officers, prompting the policemen to shoot them.

In San Juan City, the body of an alleged drug pusher was found in Barangay Balong Bato on Wednesday morning.

The police said Percival Maglaya, 44, was shot dead on C. Santos St. near the corner of R. Lagmay. Like the other victims, he also had a sign saying he was a drug peddler who should not be emulated. With Jodee Agoncillo and Ritzchelle Belenzo