Man killed in Cavite shootout; 2 drug suspects dead in Laguna, Batangas

Shootout. (RADYO INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

SAN PEDRO CITY, Laguna — A man was killed in a shootout with policemen in Cavite province, while two others were slain in what authorities described as drug-related attacks in Laguna and Batangas provinces in the past two days, police said on Wednesday.

In Cavite, Elinerio Napili died in a gunfight with policemen in Dasmariñas City at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, a report from the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) regional police said.

The report said Napili, a resident of Carmona town, fired at policemen, prompting them to shoot back.

The report was unclear if Napili was a suspected illegal drug pusher or user, but said the police arrested four persons who were caught using drugs in the area where Napili was shot.

Napili died while being taken to De La Salle University Medical Center in Dasmariñas.

In Sta. Rosa City in Laguna, Marlon Mantes, 46, was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in Barangay Tagapo at 10:30 p.m.Tuesday.

The report said Mantes was fixing his bicycle near a railroad track when he was attacked by the suspects. Mantes, it said, was included in the local police’s drug watch list.

In Batangas, a man was found dead in Tanauan City at 6 a.m. Wednesday, said Supt. Robert Baesa, city police chief.

Baesa, in a telephone interview, said the man’s head was wrapped in a plastic garbage bag.

Messages from the victim’s mobile phone showed conversations pertaining to sale of illegal drugs, he said.

Baesa said police were trying to establish the identity of the victim who, they believed, was from San Pablo City in Laguna.

He said two persons suspected of involvement in illegal drug pushing in San Pablo had been reported missing recently.  SFM