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Lawmen, environmentalist among 13 killed in Quezon battle with PNP


(Updated 6:01 p.m.) Law enforcers, including a police superintendent, were among the 13 men in a two-vehicle convoy killed in an encounter with police at a checkpoint in Atimonan, Quezon province Sunday afternoon, police said Monday. Calabarzon regional police head Chief Superintendent James Melad said the dead were suspected members of a criminal gang.
A police investigator gathers evidence at the scene of an alleged shootout in Atimonan, Quezon on Sunday, Jan 6. Thirteen people, including an environmentalist, a police officer and alleged members of the ISAFP, were killed when the two SUVs they were riding in were fired upon by cops at a checkpoint. Police said the victims were members of a gun-for-hire group. GMA News
But one of the slain men, Jun Lontok, was a respected environmentalist and community organizer in Quezon province who has worked with Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala. Lontok was a long-time leader of the Luntiang Alyansa ng Bundok Banahaw (LABB) which fought to protect Mount Banahaw in Quezon province, especially from the crowds that used to climb it during Holy Week.
 
Melad said they are also verifying reports that some of those killed were members of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).
 
"Ang group from Bicol papuntang Region 4A. Hindi huminto sa checkpoint. At the second checkpoint pinutukan," he said in a series of interviews on dzBB radio.
 
Police have launched a manhunt for other members of the group who were believed to have escaped during Sunday afternoon's firefight. A relative of one of the dead told GMA News Online that a slain civilian passenger in the convoy, Victor Siman Atienza, was an enemy of the lone policeman at the checkpoint who was wounded, Superintendent Hansel Marantan, suggesting a personal motive behind the encounter. The supposed encounter was reminiscent of the high-profile Kuratong Baleleng case in 1995 where 11 suspected criminal gang members were killed by police operatives in an alleged rubout along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.
 
Relatives of the victims, however, accused members of the now-defunct Presidential Anti-Crime Commission of a “rubout." The agency was then led by Chief Superintendent Panfilo Lacson, now a senator.
 
Murder charges were subsequently filed against Lacson and other police officials due to the incident. Last December, the Supreme Court upheld a Quezon City court's decision to dismiss the murder case against Lacson due to lack of probable cause.
Identities of dead
Melad said initial reports have identifed the slain men as:
 
  • Leonardo Catapang Marasigan, ISAFP
  • Staff Sergeant Maximo Manalastas Pelayo, ISAFP
  • Superintendent Alfredo Perez Consamino
  • Armando Lescano of the Philippine Air Force's Air Education Training Command
  • JP Valdez
  • SPO1 Gruet Alinea Mantuano
  • Victorino Siman Atienza Jr.
  • Jerry Siman
  • Conrado Decillo, driver of one of the Montero SUVs
  • Victor Garcia Gonzalez
  • Jun Lontok
  • Paul Teojilag
  • Jimbin Justiniani
 
Major General Eduardo Ano, ISAFP chief, however, denied that Marasigan and Pelayo were members of the intelligence service
 
“Walang ISAFP personnel doon. Mga civilian yun na gumagamit ng pekeng ID,” Ano said in a separate interview.
 
Melad, meanwhile, cited information indicating that Consamino was assigned to the Mimaropa regional police and was a camp commander of the regional headquarters.
 
"Naka-New Year's break ito (Consamino)," he noted.
 
Melad said the encounter occurred at Atimonan town, after the suspects aboard two Montero-type sport utility vehicles sped past a checkpoint in Quezon.
 
He said the suspects came from Camarines Norte and were heading for Southern Luzon.
 
Screengrab of slain environmentalist Tirso 'Jun' Lontok, Jr.
To intercept the suspects, police set up a second checkpoint, where the men aboard the vehicles allegedly fired at them, wounding Superintendent Hansel Marantan.
 
Melad said Marantan was shot in the legs and hand, but was declared out of danger as of early Monday.
 
Recovered from the suspects were at least eight handguns, an M-14 rifle, and an M-16 rifle.
 
Manhunt for escaped companions
 
Quezon police head Senior Superintendent Valeriano de Leon described the 13 casualties as part of a group engaged in gun-for-hire activities.
 
"According sa intelligence report ... sila may involvement sa gun-for-hire at convertible to private armed groups. Apparently they are being used by unscrupulous persons," he said in a separate dzBB interview.
 
De Leon also said manhunt operations are ongoing for the suspects' companions, who he said may have escaped aboard a third vehicle.
 
"We received reports from operating troops sa may hindi kalayuan na ang kasamahan, nang nagpupukpukan, 'di na tumuloy and made a u-turn," he said. — with Andreo Calonzo/KG/HS/RSJ, GMA News
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