4 men nabbed for killing Makati expat; cops mum on names

MANILA, Philippines—The Makati City police have arrested four men who allegedly stabbed a foreigner dead in a predawn altercation at the gate of a subdivision on Kalayaan Avenue early Saturday.

The male foreigner was identified in online reports only as “an American diplomat,” but city police chief Senior Supt. Manuel Lukban would only confirm the arrests and declined to name the victim or give his address, citing the request of the family and the village administration for privacy.

He said investigators were still contacting a foreign embassy to further verify the victim’s identity.

Before the incident, he said, four young men in a vehicle tried to enter the village for a shortcut around 4 a.m. but were barred by a security guard. The foreigner, who lived in the village, then approached and joined the guard in asking the men to produce IDs.

“But even (the foreigner) was ignored and the car moved forward, so he tapped the vehicle. The four suspects got off and ganged up on the victim,” Lukban told the Inquirer.

The foreigner was rushed to a hospital after the attack and died of stab wounds in the back around 7:20 a.m., he said.

In a text message, Southern Police District director Chief Supt. Benito Estipona said the four suspects arrived at the village in a Volvo SUV and were arrested by the Makati police “as they were about to flee the crime scene.”

Like Lukban, Estipona also declined to give the suspects’ names but described them to be between 20 and 25 years old, one of them a student and the three “young businessmen.”