Suspect killed in search operation in North Cotabato

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines — A suspected gunrunner was killed in a shootout with police on Saturday, the regional police office said.

He was the second suspected gunrunner killed in North Cotabato province in two days.

Rogelio Ubas Sr., wanted for keeping firearms and grenades, died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds.

Superintendent Aldrin Gonzalez,  spokesman of the Police Regional Office-12, said Sunday a team of police and Army personnel dispatched to search for guns and explosives in his house in Barangay New Caridad in Tulunan town was forced to kill Ubas when he pulled out a gun.

Personnel of the Army's 39th Infantry Battalion assisted police in the operation, according to Gonzalez.

The first to fall in a similar operation in Barangay Manubuan in Matalam, North Cotabato before dawn Friday was suspected gunrunner Jessie Catayna.

Police dispatched to arrest Catayna killed him when he opened fire as they approached his hideout in Barangay Manubuan in Matalam, police said.

Gonzalez said Catayna is wanted for stockpiling explosives and unlicensed guns. He said the ensuing shootout left PO2 Joel Quicoy wounded. He is now confined in a hospital.

Gonzalez said the raiding team recovered a .45 caliber pistol and a fragmentation grenade in the house where Catayna was killed.