BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – A couple and their two children were gunned down by unidentified assailants at their home in Sitio Kangkiling, Barangay Buenavista, Himamaylan City in Negros Occidental late Wednesday night, June 14.
The Himamaylan City police identified the fatalities as Rolly Fausto, 52, wife Emilda, 49, and sons Ben, 11, and Raben, 15.
Police Captain Arturo Margallo, Himamaylan City deputy police chief, said the Fausto family’s eldest daughter, Emely Fausto Hermino, sought help from their police station at around 6:15 a.m. yesterday.
Sitio Kangkiling is inaccessible to four-wheeled vehicles, police said.
Hermino reported that around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, she received information that something bad had happened to her parents and two younger siblings, prompting her to rush home.
She said she found her mother and two younger siblings riddled with bullets, while she found her father in the field some 50 meters away from their house.
The bodies were retrieved by policemen.
Sitio Kangkiling is some 20 kilometers from the city proper.
Neighbors told the police they heard several bursts of gunfire.
Prior to the incident, the neighbors also noted that the two children were last seen watching television in a neighbor’s house.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) is appealing for witnesses.
“All information will be instrumental for the fast resolution of the case and justice for the victims,” said Police Colonel Leo Pamittan, NOCPPO director.
‘INSURGENCY-RELATED’
Police Lieutenant Colonel Reynante Jomocan, Himamaylan City police chief, said they are looking at the possibility that the crime is insurgency-related since the victims have relatives who are active members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
He added that initial investigation showed the victims, who sustained head injuries, were shot at close range using an M16 rifle.
Barangay Buenavista is one of several NPA-influenced villages in central Negros where clashes that claimed the lives of several communist rebels and government troops have taken place in recent years. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency)/PN
