Manila police operatives on Saturday arrested the three suspected armed robbers who were able to escape the bloody shootout inside a subdivision in Parañaque City, Friday night that left 16 people, including five civilians, dead.

Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales, Manila police chief, said the three suspects were arrested with four others in a follow up operations conducted in Barangay Talaba II in Bacoor, Cavite.

Rosales said the three were positively identified by their gang leader who is also in police custody.

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN TV Patrol World Sabado reported that at least 18 men were rounded by the police in Bacoor town.

He said the three escaped on board a white Toyota Revo at the height of the encounter along Sampaguita Street in United Parañaque Subdivision in Parañaque City past 8 p.m. and carjacked a black Toyota Vios (XNC-585).

Renato Marnito said six gunmen forcibly took the vehicle from him along Sucat Road Friday night.

The Toyota Vios has been recovered by the police along Nuestra Señora Street in Guadalupe, Makati City around 4 p.m. Saturday.

Police recovered one .45 pistol, several magazines for M-16 rifle and MP5, a wig and three m203 grenades from the Toyota Vios.

Two more get-away vehicles of the gunmen, including a red Toyota Altis (XNC-585) and a white Kia Ceres van (PRM-234), have also been recovered by policemen.

Collateral damage

Alfonso de Vera and his seven-year old daughter Lea Alyanna were on board their Isuzu Crosswind when intercepted by policemen along Sampaguita Street during the shootout.

A witness said members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) peppered de Vera's vehicle with bullets and never stopped shooting at de Vera while he was getting out of the sport utility vehicle.

"Nakita ko, nakita ko niratrat nalang 'yung sasakyan ng mga operatives ng SAF kahit lumabas na si Alfonso ng sasakyan, pinagbabaril pa rin.’ Di tinigilan hangang mamatay s'ya nang nakaluhod," said the witness.

De Vera and his daughter both died on the spot.

Two more civilians identified as Jesiry Vicemayor and Bernard Tungcab died after being caught in crossfire. A subdivision security guard, Arnel Malawacan, was also slain.

The civilians were among the 16 people killed in the bloody police encounter. Ten of suspected robbers and a PNP-SAF member identified as Police Officer 1 Nixon Binasoy were among the fatalities.

Police said a ranking police officer and two more SAF members were wounded in the gun battle.They were Senior Superintendent Eleuterio Gutierrez and SAF members Chief Inspector Hermogenes Cabe and Inspector Eric Roranes.

Gutierrez is in critical condition at the Parañaque Medical Center.

CHR probe

PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said Saturday that he had ordered Metro Manila police chief Director Leopoldo Bataoil to form an After-Encounter Assessment Committee that will conduct a complete background investigation on the slain suspects.

The PNP said the slain suspects were members of the "Waray-Waray" and "Ozamis" robbery gangs allegedly responsible for the series of bank robberies in Metro Manila, including the noontime heist inside the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City.

Officials said that prior to the shootout, they received information that the suspects were going to raid a rental car company inside the subdivision.

The Commission on Human Rights and the National Bureau of Investigation said they will conduct an independent investigation into the shootout to determine if the policemen should bed held liable for the civilians’ death.

Bataoil, meanwhile, appealed for calm following the deaths of the civilians. He vowed to dig deeper into the incident and said charges will be filed against policemen if proven that they indiscriminately fired during the encounter..

"Minsan talagang may nadadamay na sibilyan hindi maiwasan, mag-apa-imbestiga ako. If ever ma-prove na may kasalanan 'yung SAF, mananagot sila. Pero intindihin sana nila 'yung trabahio ng mga pulis. It's a difficult situation," Bataoil said. With reports from Wheng Hidalgo and Gretchen Malalad, ABS-CBN News