4 men wanted in Batangas slain in Calamba City

SAN PEDRO CITY—Four men tagged by the police as high-value drug suspects in Batangas were killed in a police operation in Calamba City in Laguna, according to police on Wednesday.

One of the slain men, identified as Arnulfo de Silva, alias “Banker,” was also a suspect in the 2011 ambush of Batangas intelligence police officer Supt. Rodney Ramirez in Taal town.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, Batangas police director Senior Supt. Leopoldo Cabanag said members of the Batangas police served arrest warrants against De Silva and another suspect, Emar Alejandro Cabrera, around 7:30 a.m. in Barangay Parian, Calamba City.

But during the operation, “the suspects fired shots prompting the operatives to return fire,” Cabanag said.

Also killed were Renando dela Luna Vergara and a still unidentified male suspect. The suspects were brought to the Calamba Doctors’ Hospital but all four were declared dead on arrival, police said.

De Silva and Cabrera faced arrest warrants for murder issued by Judge Juanito Areta. Both were also tagged by police as high-value targets because of their involvement in drugs.