2 cops, 2 suspects dead in Batangas shootout

SAN PEDRO CITY—Four people, among them an intelligence police officer, were killed in a shootout between the police and alleged members of a robbery group in Laurel town in Batangas province on Thursday afternoon.

Supt. Alden Delvo, director of the Batangas police, said the incident happened around 4:20 p.m. in Barangay (village) Berinayan.

In a text message, Delvo said a team of policemen, led by Sr. Inspector Alvin Kison, was conducting a surveillance when their suspected targets opened fire.

Kison, a graduate of the Philippine National Police Academy class of 2014, was assigned with the Batangas police intelligence unit.

The report said that the shootout resulted in the instant death of suspects Erwin Ariola and Darren Suarez.

Kison and another policeman, Sr. Police Officer 2 Edilberto Eje, were also hit and died later in a hospital, said Supt. Chitadel Gaoiran, spokesperson of the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon police, in a separate phone interview.

Delvo said they cannot provide any other details at the moment as investigation continues. /jpv