World Bulletin / News Desk

One of the suspects in a 2009 massacre, in which 57 men and women -- among them 31 journalists -- were slaughtered in the southern Philippines, was killed Monday along with two friends.

An initial report from the Philippine National Police reaching the Anadolu Agency showed that a police team was serving an arrest warrant against Muktar Santo when the suspect opened fire on them.

Santo died on the spot after a shootout in Cotabato City in Central Mindanao, which also claimed the lives of his two cohorts.

Police identified the two other slain suspects as Guiamalon Buisan and one "Bad Boy."

Chief Supt. Noel Delos Reyes said based on a police background check that the group had also been linked to a killing in Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao last year.

He added that police recovered three police uniforms, an automatic rifle, a cal-.45 pistol, and a grenade from the deceased.

Records show that more than four years after the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre, over 80 of the 196 suspects remain at large, while more than 100 have been arrested.

The Maguindanao massacre -- considered the single deadliest event for journalists in history -- occurred in Ampatuan on the island of Mindanao on the morning of November 23.

The 58 victims were on their way to file a certificate of candidacy for a local mayor when they were kidnapped and brutally killed -- those who died included the candidate's wife, sisters, journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who bore witness to the event or were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy.