They keep dropping dead

In this picture taken on July 8, police officers investigate the dead body of an alleged drug dealer, his face covered with packing tape and a placard reading “I’m a pusher,” on a street in Manila. President Rodrigo Duterte on July 1 urged communist rebels to start killing drug traffickers, adding another layer to a controversial war on crime in which he has warned thousands will die. AFP

CRIME suspects continued to drop dead in Manila, Pasay, Las Piñas, Mandaluyong and Pasig cities, again either as casualties of police operations or victims of unidentified gunmen who made sure their targets also publicly “confessed” through cardboard signs left on their bodies.

Members of the Manila Police District (MPD) took down three men in a buy-bust operation that ended in a “shootout” in the Pandacan district around 9:45 p.m. on Friday.

Chief Insp. Manny Israel, head of the MPD’s anti-illegal drugs unit, identified the slain suspects as Rodolfo Valdez alias “Ompong,” Ryan Da Silva alias “Boy Ti,” and Cesar Blanco, who were killed at Valdez’s house at the corner of Cahilum I and Apitong streets.

Israel said Valdez and Da Silva earlier that night sold P500 worth of “shabu” to an undercover agent just outside the house.

The transaction was arranged to confirm if Valdez, who had surrendered to the MPD days ago, continued to sell drugs despite signing a pledge to stop his illegal activity, the official added.

Twelve drug users in the area, who had also surrendered to the MPD, pointed to Valdez as their source, Israel noted.

According to Israel, Valdez “sensed” the trap after selling to the poseur buyer Friday night and suddenly pulled a gun. “We said we were policemen and we were going to arrest them, but he fired anyway so we retaliated. They ran inside the house and we followed them. Once inside, we saw a third person,” Israel said.

The three men were killed on the spot in the ensuing gunfight, with Israel’s men recovering a .45-caliber pistol from Da Silva, a .38-cal. revolver from Valdez, and a knife from Blanco.

The MPD said a search of the house yielded at least 20 grams of suspected shabu worth P125,000, along with drug paraphernalia.

Also in Manila, two men were found dead in different parts of the city early Saturday morning.

The first victim, who appeared to be 50 to 55 years old and about 5’2” tall, was found at the corner of Taft Avenue and Pedro Gil Street. The body was placed in a sack and had a sign saying “Talamak na user/salisi. ’Wag tularan kayo na ang susunod. (Notorious drug user and thief. Don’t emulate or you’ll be next.)”

The second body, that of a man apparently in his 50s and wearing a black T-shirt and jeans—
was found under the R-10 bridge in Riverside, Balut, Tondo.
It also had a sign, which says “Chinese drug lord me.”

Neck slashed

In southern Metro Manila, separate incidents on Saturday led to the death of two suspected drug pushers, one falling in a vigilante attack and the other in a police encounter.

Around 5 a.m., a man was found with his neck slashed on Southland Drive in Barangay Talon Uno, Las Piñas, said
the Southern Police District spokesperson, Supt. Jenny Tecson.

He was later identified as Leonardo Beltran, 35, a suspected illegal drug dealer, street robber and burglar who operated in Barangays Almanza Uno and Dos.

Tecson said a cardboard sign which read, “Adik, holdaper, akyat-bahay ako. ’Wag tularan (I was an addict, robber, house thief. Don’t be like me),” was found on Beltran’s body.

Around 10 a.m., suspected drug pusher Celso Guites, 42, was killed in a shootout with the Pasay police who went to his house on Road 6, Pildera 2, in Barangay 193 to invite him to surrender, said Tecson.

Guites, who was with two unidentified men, allegedly shot at one of the officers, SPO2 Gerardo Parchaso, using a .45-cal. pistol, Tecson said. Parchaso retaliated and hit the suspect, who was brought to Pasay General Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. Guites’ companions escaped.

Guites was believed to be a member of a drug group operated by Edgardo “Eagle” Enriquez, who remains at large, Tecson added.

In Mandaluyong, a detainee was shot dead after he allegedly tried to take the gun of a police officer Friday night.

The city police chief, Senior Supt. Joaquin Alva, said Constantino Formanes, 44, was in a patrol car when he grabbed the 9-mm pistol of PO3 Edward Pasco as the vehicle passed through Molave Street, Welfareville, Barangay Addition Hills, around 11:30 p.m.

Formanes, who was earlier arrested in a buy-bust operation, was not yet handcuffed when he wrestled with Pasco for the gun, Alva said.

Meanwhile, two more bodies were found in Mandaluyong and Pasig.

The first was found near Columbia Tower, Ortigas Avenue, in Baragay Wack-Wack around 2:15 a.m. on Saturday, Alva said.

The other was found along Luis Street, Barangay San Miguel, Pasig, around 1:30 a.m. on Friday, according to the city police chief, Senior Supt. Jose Hidalgo Jr. With a report from Ritzchelle Belenzo. With a report from Ritzchelle Belenzo