DRUG SUSPECT SLAIN AS SHE EMERGED FROM COURT

Two unidentified gunmen shot dead a middle-aged woman who was listed as the
No. 4 most wanted drug dealer in Batangas province.

Mary Jane Endozo, 33, a resident of Barangay 4 in Tanauan City, was shot as
she emerged from a court hearing in the town, police said yesterday.

Senior Supt. Francisco Montenegro, Batangas police chief, said Endozo, 33,
had just attended a hearing at around 10:30 a.m. at the Tanauan City's Hall
of Justice in Barangay Dos when two assailants on board a motorcycle opened
fire at her.

Montenegro said the victim died on the spot after suffering at least four
gunshot wounds in the body.

She was gunned down exactly where Judge Voltaire Rosales was shot dead also
by motorcycle-riding men a few months ago.

Although the police have yet to ascertain the motive for the killing of
Endozo, they said the victim's connection with the illegal drugs syndicate
could have been behind her death.

Police added that Endozo's husband, also a suspected drug dealer, was
likewise ambushed a few years back.

The gangland-style execution of Endozo is similar to the executions of drug
suspects in Davao City, which human rights groups have now tagged as the
summary execution capital of the Philippines.