CANDELARIA, Quezon - Eight suspected kidnappers were killed in a reported shoot-out with policemen at a mobile checkpoint in front of the police's 415th Mobile Group headquarters along the Maharlika Highway in Sitio (sub-village) Taguan, Barangay (village) Bukal Sur, here early Monday.

Chief Superintendent Elmo Francis Sarona, provincial police chief, said the armed men were on board a Toyota Hi-Ace van that rammed a wooden barricade of the Commission on Elections at around 5:10 a.m. and fired at the lawmen manning the checkpoint.

The policemen returned fire, killing seven of the men on the spot. Two of the fatalities lay on the pavement with guns on their sides, while the rest were found inside the bullet-ridden vehicle, Sarona said.

One of the gunmen was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival, he added.

Four of those killed were identified from the contents of their wallets as Jojo Salazar, payroll guard from UMA security agency and resident of Quezon City and Bulacan; Roger Dasnes Bailon of Rizal; Wilbert Mauricio of Las Pinas City; and Samuel Reonico of Quezon City.

Superintendent Hanzel Marantan, head of the Quezon Police Safety Management, said he was supervising eight police officers and Army soldiers at the checkpoint when the Toyota van suddenly hit the barricade and its passengers started firing.

"We ducked for cover and returned fire to defend ourselves," he told the Inquirer.

Police recovered a .45 cal. pistol with five bullets, a .357 cal. revolver with 17 bullets, a grenade, a Carbine rifle with two long magazines loaded with 43 bullets, two magazines for .45 cal. gun loaded with bullets and a jungle bolo.

Residents said the gunfire lasted about 10 minutes.

Police also found 16 uncashed bank checks in one of the armed men's bags, a pair of fake vehicle license plates and several mobile phones inside the vehicle. One of the checks, worth P228,000, was payable to YHJ Philippines Corp.

"We believe that the group was an organized KFR (kidnap for ransom) and robbery group and was about to stake out and eventually hit their targets, probably pawnshops."