CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police of Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental are intensifying their manhunt operations against the 10 identified suspects, who were allegedly responsible for the killing on Friday, May 14, of five alleged government informants in the city.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Bonifacio Tecson, Guihulngan City Police Station chief, said that there are at least 10 suspects whose names were withheld because they were still at large.
“Dili lang nato nganlan kay kung makahibaw sila sa ilang ngalan, managan, manago unya nagpadayon pa mi ug hot-pursuit operation. Pero we were able to identify na nila. Daghan ni sila, ” Tecson said.
(We will not name them for now because they might know that they were being pursued and they will run and hide and our hot pursuit operation is ongoing. But we have identified them. There are many of them.)
He also said that they were preparing documents needed to file murder cases against the still at-large suspects.
According to their initial investigation, Tecson said that they had confirmed that these suspects were members of the New People’s Army (NPA) who operate in these areas usually in Canlaon City and La Libertad town in Negros Oriental and the mountain areas in Negros Occidental.
READ: 5 ‘government informants’ killed in Guihulngan City
Tecson said that they found out that suspects were responsible for the Guihulngan killings according to the places where they were known to operate and the way they do things — they waylaid and killed the five victims within four hours.
The first victim was reported at around 5 a.m. that day and the last victim was killed at around 8:30 a.m. Those killed were three farmers and two women, who were mothers.
Tecson said that the victims were reportedly former members of the NPA and were allegedly “informants” of government troops.
Police initial investigation also showed that these killings were allegedly “revenge killings” by the suspects after their encounter with government troops last March 23 led to the death of reportedly 10 NPA fighters.
Police Brigadier General Ronnie Montejo, Police Regional Office (PRO-7) chief, condemned the killings and directed the chief of Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO) to conduct further investigation.
Police General Guillermo Eleazar, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, also assured the families of the victims that the police would continue their manhunt operations against these suspects and that justice would be served.
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