(Update) Another bank robbery suspect killed in shoot-out

MANILA, Philippines - Another suspect in the bloody RCBC bank heist in Cabuyao, Laguna was killed in a shoot-out in Laguna yesterday morning, officials said. Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome said the slain suspect was identified as Montano Tolentino, alleged leader of the Montano group of robbery-holdup gangs in Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) area, who tried to shoot it out with members of Task Force RCBC (Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.). "The incident occurred at about 5 a.m. and it was still ongoing as of 7 a.m. in Puting Lupa village in Calamba City," he told reporters in a press briefing. Mr. Bartolome said suspect Gary Tumambing was arrested. Operatives of the task force were serving a search warrant on the suspects when the shoot-out occurred. Calabarzon police head Chief Supt. Ricardo Padilla said the suspects were armed. "They resisted arrest, and so a gun fight ensued," he told BusinessWorld in a telephone interview. However, Mr. Padilla clarified that no link had been established between the two and the robbery of the RCBC branch in Cabuyao, in which 10 people were killed. Amid fresh speculations of yet another rubout, Mr. Bartolome said the PNP is eyeing the use of video cameras in all its operations. Mr. Bartolome said this will dispel allegations of summary executions and other irregularities in operations. Meanwhile, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chief Leila de Lima said the body of one of four RCBC bank robbery suspects killed during a Task Force RCBC operation in Tanauan last week will undergo autopsy. This is to check if he was involved in a shoot-out or not, Ms. De Lima told reporters. Ms. de Lima said the CHR has contacted forensic expert Dr. Raquel Fortun and another doctor for the autopsy on the body of former village chairman Vivencio Javier. Others slain in the Tanauan incident were Angelito Malabanan and Rolly Lacheca. Ms. de Lima said the CHR is giving itself roughly two weeks to determine whether the killing of the three suspected bank robbers in Batangas last week was a shoot-out or a rubout. - BusinessWorld