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COTABATO CITY – Three suspected motorcycle thieves were killed in a shootout with lawmen along a highway in Aleosan town in North Cotabato on Sunday afternoon.
Senior Insp. Junrel Amutan, Aleosan police chief, said the shootout happened while police were pursuing three suspects on two motorbikes, one of which was reportedly stolen from Marcelino Caballero of Barangay Poblacion.
Amutan said Caballero alerted the police after he discovered his motorcycle missing. Police quickly pursued the suspects until they reached the highway in Barangay Bagolibas.
When told to pull over, the suspects allegedly opened fire on pursuing policemen, triggering a shootout that ended with the three men dead on a roadside.
Amutan identified the fatalities as Dante Mingawan, 37, Bohari Manalao, 24, and Pikboy Abo, all of Pikit, North Cotabato.
Police recovered from the suspects a .45-caliber pistol, a .38-caliber revolver, empty shells for both guns, the stolen motorbike and another motorcycle they used in their getaway./rga