The last two days were fatal for two robbery gang leaders, who were shot dead in separate encounters with police in Metro Manila and Cebu province.

The suspected leader of a criminal gang was shot dead after an encounter with police before dawn Thursday in Metro Manila, radio dzBB reported.

Initially identified as Reynaldo Macario, the suspect drew a handgun and fired at police at a checkpoint, the same report said. 

Police are now looking for Macario’s unnamed companion, who was wounded during the encounter, but managed to escape.

The incident occurred at a checkpoint along Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati, where police flagged down Macario’s scooter as it had no license plates.

A separate report on dzXL radio said police recovered a cal-.45 pistol from the scooter.

Macario’s gang had been linked to holdups and robberies in Las Piñas, Makati, Pasay and Parañaque cities, the dzBB report said.

Last February, Macario eluded arrest after an encounter in Makati last February, where two of three suspected gang members were killed.

Police had identified Macario through a photo gallery as the gang member who eluded arrest during a February 14 encounter.

Gang leader shot dead in Cebu

In Cebu, dzXL radio reported police shot dead a leader of a robbery heist of M. Lhulllier in Carmen, Cebu, after a five-minute firefight on Wednesday.

Joshua Ybanez Paring was killed in the shootout with the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 7.

Four of his companions, who were not immediately identified, were arrested after the encounter.

A Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) team had gone to the area after receiving information Paring and his companion was sighted in the vicinity. – RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV