4 suspects slain in drug war

MANILA, Philippines — Four suspected drug pushers were killed in Bulacan, Cagayan, Nueva Ecija and Sorsogon as the government continued its campaign against illegal drugs on Sunday.

Alfredo Carpio, alias Pulutan, and Nepomuceno Esquerra reportedly drew their guns when they sensed they had sold shabu to policemen who posed as buyers in Barangay Lourdes, Cabanatuan City.

Superintendent Amador Corpus, Central Luzon police director, said the fatalities were on the barangay drug watchlist.

Marcelino Javier, alias Welang, fired at anti-narco-tics agents in Barangay Batia, Bocaue, Bulacan, police said.

”High-value” drug pusher Crisanto Bautista, a resident of Barangay Pang-Pang, Legazpi, Albay, also allegedly shot it out with policemen in a sting.

The fatalities yielded sachets of shabu and guns, police said.

3 found dead

Meanwhile, a woman and two men who have yet to be identified were found dead in Bulacan, Pampanga and Cagayan also on Sunday.

The woman’s body, which bore multiple stab wounds, was found along a riverbank in Barangay 2, Enrile, Cagayan. Her head was wrapped with packing tape.

The bodies of the two men were found in a cemetery in San Rafael, Bulacan and in a grassy area in Mabalacat, Pampanga. – Ramon Efren Lazaro, Raymund Catindig, Celso Amo, Ric Sapnu