THE chief of the Metro Manila police on Thursday ordered a thorough investigation into the death of two passersby during a shootout between members of the Manila Police and alleged robbery gang members in Tondo, Manila, on Wednesday.

Director Geary Barias, Metro Manila police commander, ordered Chief Supt. Roberto Rosales, Manila police chief, to conduct a complete investigation into the shootout and submit to him a detailed report on the death of Victor Constantino and Rolando Natividad, both Asia Brewery employees.

“I have ordered Chief Supt. Rosales to conduct a detailed investigation into the shootout, including the death of the two civilians,” Barias said.

Reports and even the immediate family members of the two employees said both were killed in the crossfire, with the bullets allegedly coming from the guns of the policemen.

The Manila police reported that its men killed seven members of the Waray Waray Gang in the shootout on the Delpan Bridge in Tondo.

Barias also ordered Rosales to identify the policemen who were involved in the firefight and have their guns subjected to ballistic test.

Rosales said Constantino and Natividad may have been hit during the crossfire, but did not discount the possibility that they could have also been shot by two of the gunmen, based on the claim of a bystander, Rizaldo Canares, who was also wounded.

“Still, our investigation is ongoing. It is up to the Soco [Scene of the Crime Operatives] to determine whether they were hit in the crossfire or they were shot by the gangmen,” he said.

Constantino and Natividad died inside an Isuzu pickup truck that was traveling not far from the scene of the shootout. Their relatives said they were on their way to work.

Rosales said the members of the robbery gang were killed after they shot it out with the policemen who pursued them.

He said about seven gangmen onboard a Nissan van tried to avoid a chokepoint on Delpan Bridge.

“As they fled, they fired their guns, prompting the policemen to return fire as they pursued the gangmen,” Rosales said.

He said that during the exchange of gunfire, four from the suspects’ group were killed. The three others got out of the vehicle and tried to escape.

Rosales said two of the fleeing gangmen ran towards Constantino and Natividad, where Canares said, they shot the two beer company employees.

Solons hit watering down of meds bill

THE principal author of the House version of the cheaper medicines bill on Thursday lamented what he described as the “drastic weakening” of the measure with the removal of the provision on the drug-price regulatory board apart from the “generics- only” provision of the original bill.

WHILE there is a 90-percent coverage of the metropolis for potable water supply, barely 10 percent of the area is covered by sewerage service. This worries the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), not to say environmentalists.

AFTER starting to dismantle illegal fish cages at Laguna de Bay, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is now faced with the bigger challenge of relocating some 50,000 squatters to rehabilitate the lake.

LIKE a scene in some romantic classic, a National Food Authority (NFA) laborer approached a woman in here early 20s, whose halter blouse emphasized the soft tone of her exposed shoulder, and offered to hand her coupon to the security guard manning the rationing of the three-kilo pack of government rice.

THE chief of the Metro Manila police on Thursday ordered a thorough investigation into the death of two passersby during a shootout between members of the Manila Police and alleged robbery gang members in Tondo, Manila, on Wednesday.

CELL-SITE attacks by lawless elements have lessened considerably, Globe Telecom said.

Company president Gerardo Ablaza has said that Globe continues to seek assistance from the police and the military to stop rampant assaults against its cell sites.

THE Land Transportation Office (LTO) launched on Thursday two major locally developed technological innovations which crack down on car smuggling and carjacking as well as strengthen environmental protection.