BY ANTHONY GIRON
*
CAMP GEN. PANTALEON GARCIA, IMUS CITY, Cavite – A drug suspect was killed Friday in a shootout with police at Ericka Louise Subdivision-Tondo in Barangay Malainen Bago, Naic, this province.
The cops were reportedly forced to shoot Lenard Malabata, alias Jakosense, when he fired his gun upon resisting arrest in the area.
Malabata died on the spot.
The Cavite Police Provincial Office (PPO) said that the buy-bust and the shootout transpired at 1:30 a.m. Friday.
Malabata reportedly drew his gun and fired at the lawmen after resisting a police officer who posed as a buyer.
The police sought the assistance of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) to conduct the site investigation.
There were no other details about the encounter and the suspect’s profile in the initial report that the Cavite PPO rendered to the media.
PPO reports showed that Malabata was the eighth resisting drug suspect who died in encounters with police in Cavite province during the extended general community quarantine (GCQ) or the period starting June 1 up to July 15.
Aside from Naic, the fatal anti-drug operations were also reported in capital Imus (two separate incidents), General Trias City, Cavite City and the municipalities of Silang, General Mariano Alvarez (GMA) and Tanza.
