Cops suspect slay of couple, 2 kids in Negros insurgency-related

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 15, 2023): Cops suspect slay of couple, 2 kids in Negros insurgency-related (By Nanette Guadalquiver)

RETRIEVAL OPERATION. The bodies of the Fausto couple and their two minor sons being retrieved by disaster response personnel from the crime scene in the far-flung Sitio Kangkiling, Barangay Buenavista located some 20 kilometers from Himamaylan City proper in Negros Occidental on Thursday (June 15, 2023). Investigators are initially 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. (Photo courtesy of Himamaylan City Police Station)

BACOLOD CITY – The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) is appealing for information on the perpetrators in the killing of a couple and their two minor children in the far-flung village of Buenavista, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on Wednesday night.

On Thursday afternoon, the bodies of the slain members of the Fausto family were retrieved by authorities from the crime scene in Sitio Kangkiling, located some 20 kilometers from the city proper.

The Himamaylan City Police Station identified the fatalities as Rolly Fausto, 52 and his wife Emilda, 49, as well as their sons Ben, 11, and Raben, 15.

Col. Leo Pamittan, director of NOCPPO, appealed to witnesses to cooperate in the police investigation.

“All information will be instrumental for a fast solution to the case and justice for the victims,” he said in a statement.

Lt. Col. Reynante Jomocan, city police chief, said they are initially 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).

Initial investigation showed the victims, who sustained head injuries, were shot at close range using an M16 rifle.

According to the police report, the couple’s eldest daughter reported the incident to the station at 6:15 a.m. on Thursday, more than eight hours after the crime took place around 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

Sitio Kangkiling is inaccessible to four-wheeled vehicles, it added.

Investigators recovered the elder Fausto’s body about 50 meters away from their house, where the bodies of his wife and their two children were found.

Barangay Buenavista is among the 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.

The most recent encounter, which transpired last month in Sitio Paloypoy, led to the death of an NPA fighter and the wounding of two soldiers and a civilian.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1203614