Visayas, Minanao, North, West, Timog and Quezon Avenues

[CaMoTe!!!]

By Jeannette Andrade, Alcuin Papa
Inquirer
Last updated 02:31am (Mla time) 04/17/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Five men all clad in police jackets were killed in what police said was a gun battle with a gang of car thieves in Quezon City at past 3 a.m. Monday.

Despite the apparently fierce shootout, the gang’s maroon Toyota Revo sustained neither a dent nor a scratch, based on pictures taken by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and by police agents.

Police said the shootout followed a chase from Elliptical Road to Belfast Avenue in Barangay Pasong Putik, which ended on a grassy and unpopulated portion of Belfast.

The five slain men, all wearing black police jackets and sweatshirts marked “PNP,” died from bullet wounds, mostly in the head and chest.

Their bodies were strewn along Belfast, two of them lying near their vehicle, with plate No. VBX-401.

Agence France-Presse said that based on an account of its photographer, the dead men “appeared to have been shot at close range.”

A police statement identified one of the slain men as Medardo Valderama Tuazon, 44, of Bocaue, Bulacan, based on a driver’s license recovered from his body.

One of the men bore a “Patricia” tattoo on the left side of the chest and a “Commando” tattoo on the back.

Asked why the Revo was not damaged at all during the gun battle, Traffic Management Group Director Chief Supt. Errol Pan said: “I wasn’t there myself but I can safely comment that the encounter was moving.”

Pan said it was possible that during the chase, neither side hit its target.

It was after the suspects had gotten out of their vehicle that “doon nagkaratratan ng mga tao natin (our men poured it on them).”

He said one of the suspects was armed with a shotgun and another with a 9mm pistol, and that the police car suffered damage.

New group?

Pan said that he would meet with officials of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Malolos, Bulacan, because of information on the group’s alleged illegal activities.

“It looks like this is a new group because the name Medardo Tuazon does not appear in the order of battle of TMG,” Pan said.

Police reports said the incident started at around 3 a.m. while members of the TMG mobile unit 11 were conducting routine patrol along Elliptical Road.

TMG spokesperson Supt. Edwin Butacan told the Inquirer the operatives spotted the maroon Revo “suspiciously” circling Elliptical Road as if its occupants were looking for something or someone.

A hot car

Upon verification, Mobile 11 learned the license plates of the Revo had been the subject of a flash alarm from Camp Crame national police headquarters, meaning it was on the watch list following a report that it had been stolen.

The suspected car thieves were near the vicinity of SM Fairview mall, when reinforcements from Task Force Limbas arrived.

At the vicinity of the Holy Rosary chapel along Belfast, the five men sensed they were being tailed and, with a shotgun, fired at the patrol car, hitting its right rear fender, Butacan said.

Butacan said the five men jumped out of the Revo and started to run to different directions, prompting the lawmen to fire at them.

The five men were also wearing police caps over maong pants and rubber sandals.

Three visitors

A police memorandum prohibits the sale of police paraphernalia and uniforms to civilians. Investigators suspect the group had an accomplice within the police organization.

A source from the Scene of the Crime Office (Soco), who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media, said three people -- including a man who identified himself as a police inspector assigned with the Manila Police District -- had asked for Tuazon’s body, claiming that they were relatives.

They were directed to go to the Prudential Funeral Homes.

The source was not able to disclose the name of the supposed police lieutenant.

The TMG spokesperson said that upon verification, police learned that the Revo’s license plates had belonged to an Isuzu Crosswind, which was forcibly taken from its owner, Frederick Duller, in June 2005.

The Revo, on the other hand, was stolen from an Elena Rodriguez in Midtown Village, Cainta, Rizal, with the chassis and engine number matching the “hot” vehicle.

Soco personnel said they recovered two .45 cal. pistols, a 9mm pistol, a shotgun and a hand grenade from the five men.

They also said they found tools for removing car plates, as well as four other license plates, ZAP-876 and XRX-739, hidden in the vehicle.

Advice to motorists

Soco personnel also recovered from the site two shotgun empty shells, seven M-16 Armalite rifle slugs, six .45 cal. pistol slugs and 16 empty shells from a 9mm pistol.

In an earlier interview, Pan said the slain men belonged to the Tabas carjacking group operating in Quezon City.

He said the group would pretend to be policemen and flag down motorists in dark areas for supposed traffic violations.

Once the unsuspecting motorist alights, the gang would take the vehicle at gunpoint.

Pan said the group usually operated in Quezon City, particularly around the vicinity of South Triangle, Elliptical Road and Visayas Avenue.

Haven in Marilao

The gang would take the stolen cars to Marilao where its appearance would be changed to avoid detection. The vehicles would then be sold in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

Pan said the TMG recently recovered 25 vehicles from the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Cebu which were stolen in Metro Manila.

Pan advised motorists that legitimate police checkpoints were set up in well-lighted areas and manned by policemen in proper uniform.

“The proper uniform of our policemen are the complete blue uniform, not jackets and sweatshirts only,” Pan said.

An estimated 2.7 vehicles are stolen every day in Metro Manila, according to statistics from the TMG.

In 2006, there were 2,004 cars stolen.

[CaMoTe!!!]

By Jeannette Andrade, Alcuin Papa
Inquirer
Last updated 02:31am (Mla time) 04/17/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Five men all clad in police jackets were killed in what police said was a gun battle with a gang of car thieves in Quezon City at past 3 a.m. Monday.

Despite the apparently fierce shootout, the gang’s maroon Toyota Revo sustained neither a dent nor a scratch, based on pictures taken by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and by police agents.

Police said the shootout followed a chase from Elliptical Road to Belfast Avenue in Barangay Pasong Putik, which ended on a grassy and unpopulated portion of Belfast.

The five slain men, all wearing black police jackets and sweatshirts marked “PNP,” died from bullet wounds, mostly in the head and chest.

Their bodies were strewn along Belfast, two of them lying near their vehicle, with plate No. VBX-401.

Agence France-Presse said that based on an account of its photographer, the dead men “appeared to have been shot at close range.”

A police statement identified one of the slain men as Medardo Valderama Tuazon, 44, of Bocaue, Bulacan, based on a driver’s license recovered from his body.

One of the men bore a “Patricia” tattoo on the left side of the chest and a “Commando” tattoo on the back.

Asked why the Revo was not damaged at all during the gun battle, Traffic Management Group Director Chief Supt. Errol Pan said: “I wasn’t there myself but I can safely comment that the encounter was moving.”

Pan said it was possible that during the chase, neither side hit its target.

It was after the suspects had gotten out of their vehicle that “doon nagkaratratan ng mga tao natin (our men poured it on them).”

He said one of the suspects was armed with a shotgun and another with a 9mm pistol, and that the police car suffered damage.

New group?

Pan said that he would meet with officials of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Malolos, Bulacan, because of information on the group’s alleged illegal activities.

“It looks like this is a new group because the name Medardo Tuazon does not appear in the order of battle of TMG,” Pan said.

Police reports said the incident started at around 3 a.m. while members of the TMG mobile unit 11 were conducting routine patrol along Elliptical Road.

TMG spokesperson Supt. Edwin Butacan told the Inquirer the operatives spotted the maroon Revo “suspiciously” circling Elliptical Road as if its occupants were looking for something or someone.

A hot car

Upon verification, Mobile 11 learned the license plates of the Revo had been the subject of a flash alarm from Camp Crame national police headquarters, meaning it was on the watch list following a report that it had been stolen.

The suspected car thieves were near the vicinity of SM Fairview mall, when reinforcements from Task Force Limbas arrived.

At the vicinity of the Holy Rosary chapel along Belfast, the five men sensed they were being tailed and, with a shotgun, fired at the patrol car, hitting its right rear fender, Butacan said.

Butacan said the five men jumped out of the Revo and started to run to different directions, prompting the lawmen to fire at them.

The five men were also wearing police caps over maong pants and rubber sandals.

Three visitors

A police memorandum prohibits the sale of police paraphernalia and uniforms to civilians. Investigators suspect the group had an accomplice within the police organization.

A source from the Scene of the Crime Office (Soco), who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media, said three people -- including a man who identified himself as a police inspector assigned with the Manila Police District -- had asked for Tuazon’s body, claiming that they were relatives.

They were directed to go to the Prudential Funeral Homes.

The source was not able to disclose the name of the supposed police lieutenant.

The TMG spokesperson said that upon verification, police learned that the Revo’s license plates had belonged to an Isuzu Crosswind, which was forcibly taken from its owner, Frederick Duller, in June 2005.

The Revo, on the other hand, was stolen from an Elena Rodriguez in Midtown Village, Cainta, Rizal, with the chassis and engine number matching the “hot” vehicle.

Soco personnel said they recovered two .45 cal. pistols, a 9mm pistol, a shotgun and a hand grenade from the five men.

They also said they found tools for removing car plates, as well as four other license plates, ZAP-876 and XRX-739, hidden in the vehicle.

Advice to motorists

Soco personnel also recovered from the site two shotgun empty shells, seven M-16 Armalite rifle slugs, six .45 cal. pistol slugs and 16 empty shells from a 9mm pistol.

In an earlier interview, Pan said the slain men belonged to the Tabas carjacking group operating in Quezon City.

He said the group would pretend to be policemen and flag down motorists in dark areas for supposed traffic violations.

Once the unsuspecting motorist alights, the gang would take the vehicle at gunpoint.

Pan said the group usually operated in Quezon City, particularly around the vicinity of South Triangle, Elliptical Road and Visayas Avenue.

Haven in Marilao

The gang would take the stolen cars to Marilao where its appearance would be changed to avoid detection. The vehicles would then be sold in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

Pan said the TMG recently recovered 25 vehicles from the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Cebu which were stolen in Metro Manila.

Pan advised motorists that legitimate police checkpoints were set up in well-lighted areas and manned by policemen in proper uniform.

“The proper uniform of our policemen are the complete blue uniform, not jackets and sweatshirts only,” Pan said.

An estimated 2.7 vehicles are stolen every day in Metro Manila, according to statistics from the TMG.

In 2006, there were 2,004 cars stolen.

o/t:
i was trying to post this as a new thread sana, pero ayaw.. nagbablank screen lang siya pagka click ko ng post... sa browser ko kaya may prob mods??