4 drug suspects killed in Cotabato shooting incidents in four days

KIDAPAWAN CITY —Four drug suspects were killed in shooting incidents in a span of four days beginning Tuesday in North Cotabato, a police official said Friday.

Superintendent Bernard Tayong, spokesperson for the Cotabato Provincial Police Office (CPPO), said that three of the suspects were killed while shooting it out with lawmen during raids. The fourth one was shot dead on Friday by unidentified assailants.

The fatalities were identified as:

• Jonathan Mangakoy (resident of Barangay Aringay in Kabacan) 
• Sendatuk Baliwan (also of Barangay Aringay in Kabacan)
• Kuyog Pantas (resident of Matalam town)
• Ramel Macacana (resident of Kadipawan City)

Tayong said that Mangakoy and Baliwan fought with the police during a raid in Kabacan. Recovered from the two were a hand grenade, a hand gun, and a shotgun.

On the other hand, Pantas was shot when he resisted arrest in a raid on his house in Matalam. Two other suspects escaped before search warrants could be served, said Matalam police head Senior Inspector Sunny Leoncitio.

Meanwhile, the 4th slain drug suspect Macacana, a mechanic, was attacked by unidentified assailants in Kidapawan. Police believed he was involved in illegal drug trade.

Tayong lamented that despite the rising death toll in police anti-narcotic operations, the drug menace in the province still continues.

“Shabu dealing, not only in North Cotabato, is already a lucrative business. The return on investments is high.  Also, when law enforcement against illegal drugs has been intensified, the demand for shabu and other kinds of illegal drugs is getting higher,” he said. —LBG, GMA News