CAMP GEN. ALEJO SANTOS: Two members of the “Salvador Group,” a known criminal gang operating in Central Luzon, were killed while two police officers were wounded during an armed encounter in Barangay Maligaya, San Miguel town on Monday.

The gunfight ensued during the service of a warrant of arrest by the 3rd Maneuver Platoon of the Bulacan 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC) in the said place.

Col. Relly Arnedo, provincial director of the Bulacan PNP, said one of the neutralized suspects was identified as Rommel Suarez, a member of the Salvador Criminal Group and listed as a high-value individual of Nueva Ecija for violating the Dangerous Drugs Act.

The police are still verifying the identity of the other fatality, Arnedo said.

Suarez’s other cohorts Fernando Perez and Reynier de la Cruz, both residents of Maligaya, San Miguel, Bulacan; Shierlyn Anne Pangilinan of Gapan, Nueva Ecija; and Rowena Daquiz of Cabiao, Nueva Ecija were arrested.

Based on the report from San Miguel Municipal Police Station, when the police officers arrived in the above-mentioned area to execute the warrant of arrest on Suarez, the suspects fired at them.

The police officers, then, returned fire, resulting in the deaths of Suarez and his unidentified companion.

“Two police officers identified as Cpl. Richard Neri, legal age, and Pat. Aaron James Ibasco of the Bulacan 2nd PMFC 3rd Maneuver Platoon sustained gunshot wounds but are no longer in danger,” Arnedo said.

Recovered from the crime scene were spent shells and firearms used by the suspects, a sachet of suspected shabu, and drug paraphernalia.

The arrested suspects were brought to the San Miguel MPS for further investigation and to investigate a possible link with the Salvador Criminal Gang.

“The aforementioned criminal gang is involved in robbery and illegal drug operations in Central Luzon,” Arnedo added.

Appropriate criminal complaints against the suspects are now being prepared for filing in court.