5 killed in Bulacan farm; 2 others seized

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — At least 12 men wearing ski masks and brandishing high-powered firearms swooped down on a gamefowl-breeding farm in San Ildefonso, Bulacan Wednesday night, killing its owner, his teenage son and three workers and seizing two others, police said.

The fatalities were identified as businessman Ricardo Valmocina, 61; his son, Roel Joseph, 16; Melchor Cardinal, 24, and Michael Milanay, 19, both caretakers of the farm in Barangay Pinaod; and a certain Jojo, a helper.

Valmocina’s son Reynante, 34, and stay-in worker Robin Solano, 40, were missing and believed abducted.

Probers were eyeing robbery in the incident as the armed men ransacked Valmocina’s house, carting away more than P10,000 in cash, assorted jewelry valued at P100,000, several cellular phones and other valuables.

There were also speculations that New People’s Army rebels were behind the massacre, which occurred a day after insurgents attacked a temporary Army outpost in Barangay Pinaod.

There were insinuations, too, that military men could have pulled it off, something which Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr., commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion, vehemently denied.

In a phone interview, Palparan challenged those linking soldiers to the killing to present evidence, saying military men have become convenient suspects in killings in Bulacan.

Palparan said it just so happened that his men were deployed in the area. A 10-man military team is temporarily posted at the Pinaod community hall for security reasons.

Investigation showed that the armed men arrived at about 9 p.m. on board a van and a passenger jeepney.

They found Cardinal, Mahinay and Jojo chatting in front of a house in the compound, and told them that they were looking for Cardinal’s firearms. When Cardinal resisted, they shot Mahinay and Jojo.

The unidentified men then dragged Cardinal to Valmocina’s house 100 meters away. Reaching it, they shot Cardinal and barged inside, finding the businessman in the sala.

They then fired at Valmocina, and when his son Roel Joseph rushed out of his room, shot him, too.

Before fleeing, the group punctured the tires and gas tanks and shattered the windshields of Valmocina’s Nissan Sentra. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe