LUCENA CITY – Five suspected kidnappers and a policewoman were killed in a shootout in San Pablo City in Laguna province on Tuesday morning, police said.
Senior Supt. Rhoderick Armamento, Quezon provincial police director, said Police Officer 1 Zarah Andal was among the four police personnel wounded in the firefight and taken to a hospital in San Pablo. Andal, however, died while undergoing treatment.
Two others: kidnap victim Ronaldo Arguelles and an unidentified bystander, were wounded during the firefight along Maharlika Highway in Barangay (village) San Nicolas at 6 a.m.
Armamento said combined operatives from the Quezon and San Pablo City police offices and the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Kidnapping Group were in San Pablo to conduct a follow-up operation on the abduction of Arguelles, who was taken in Candelaria town, Quezon, on Monday.
He said the firefight started when one of the suspects saw the policemen and fired at them during the payment of ransom money for Arguelles’ release.
Armamento said the slain suspects, who had yet to be identified, were armed with rifles and pistols and were wearing police fatigues.
He said Arguelles had several drug-related cases in courts in Quezon and San Pablo City.
“We believe that the kidnapping was drug-related,” Armamento said. Jhoanna Ballaran, INQUIRER.net /cbb