8 more drug slays in Manila, QC

Eight drug suspects have been killed in Manila and Quezon City since Monday night, including a 22-year-old woman who was shot dead just hours after the police released her from detention.

Jerica Ang of Barangay Commonwealth, Quezon City, was gunned down by four still unidentified men in front of the Iglesia ni Cristo church on Commonwealth Avenue around midnight Tuesday.

Her live-in partner, Toto Sarmiento, who like her was also accused of selling drugs in their barangay, escaped unhurt.

Hours earlier, the couple were arrested by barangay watchmen for allegedly being drug pushers in the area. But they were released without being charged upon the intercession of Ang’s father, Romeo, who spoke to village officials.

Ang’s sister, Romilyn, told investigators from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), that she, along with the victim, their father and Sarmiento, were about to flag down a passenger jeepney going to Lagro when four armed men on motorcycles stopped near them.

Romilyn said two of the men shot her sister while the other two chased after Sarmiento who ran away. Ang was pronounced dead on arrival at East Avenue Medical Center due to a gunshot wound to the head.

Shortly before midnight on Tuesday, another drug suspect in Quezon City who had earlier surrendered to the police was killed by motorcycle-riding men on Kalayaan B corner Kalusugan Streets in Barangay Batasan Hills.

Mark Jill Ambat, 21, was shot while walking with his sister and a cousin.

Based on QCPD records, Ambat was a drug user who surrendered in July under the police’s “Oplan Tokhang.”

In Manila, six drug suspects died in separate buy-bust operations on Monday and Tuesday.

The Manila Police District (MPD) identified them as Roldan Amora, Reynaldo Agrigado, Raffy Sardido, Alex Pana and two others identified only as Den and Bebe.

Pana and Den were killed by Sta. Cruz policemen inside their house on Guzman Street in Quiapo at 6:15 p.m. Monday.

Homicide investigator SPO4 Glenzor Vallejo said Pana was about to sell drugs to customers when he sensed that they were policemen, leading to a shoot-out. He and Den were killed. The police said they later recovered a .38-cal. revolver from Pana.

Also on Monday, Bebe was killed also in a shoot-out with lawmen following a buy-bust operation.

Amora, Agrigado and Sardido, on the other hand, were gunned down inside their house on Delpan Street on Tuesday night.

Based on a report to the MPD homicide unit, Binondo policemen set up a meeting with the three men to buy drugs. A shoot-out, however, ensued between the two groups, leaving the suspects dead.

Residents in the area, however, said the policemen arrived around 9:30 p.m. and forced everyone to leave their houses amid heavy rains. Around 50 of them were taken to a covered court where their names were taken down.

Asking not to be identified in this report for fear of retaliation, they said no drug transaction that took place.