4 MASSACRED IN ALBAY

4 MASSACRED IN ALBAY
By Cet Dematera

LEGAZPI CITY---At least four people, one of them a child, were massacred while three more were wounded in two separate places in Albay the other night by suspects who remained unidentified until yesterday, the police here reported.

Chief Inspector Robert Bellen, Oas police chief, identified the latest massacre victims who died on the spot as Rochelle Topasi, 32; and Ronald Marco,31, while those wounded were Ronald Adones,28, and his brothers Roderick, 21, and Rogelio Jr, 22.

Quoting initial investigation report, Bellen said that the victims were cooking coconut meat, or copra, in the farflung village of San Miguel, in Oas, Albay, at around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday when two armed men surprisingly appeared and riddled them with bullets using 9mm pistols.

Bellen said that Topasi and Marco died on the spot when hit in their chest and head, while the rest suffered gunshot wounds in different parts of their body.

He said that they also recovered from the scene four 9mm spent shells and one live bullet from the same handgun calibre.

Bellen said the wounded were immediately brought to Belmonte-Duran Hospital in the nearby Ligao City for treatment.

Meanwhile a grandmother and her granddaughter were brutally hacked early morning yesterday in Barangay San Isido, Malilipot, Albay by still unidentified suspects.

The police identified the victims as Carolina Merato, 71; and her six-year old granddaughter Marie Fe, who both sustained fatal wounds from suspects who gained entry into the house by breaking its back window.

The police suspected robbery as the main motive in the second killing. (cet dematera)