Three Dead in Albay Massacre by Communist Rebels

CAMP ELIAS ANGELES, Pili, Camsur – Three members of a family were shot and killed by suspected communist rebels in Albay Province yesterday (October 11), a military official said today.

LtCol John Oberio, Commander of the 2nd Infantry Battalion which has jurisdiction over Albay Province, said that four NPA bandits barged in the house of Wenifredo Lotino, 45, a councilman of Nabasan village in Daraga town at around 2:00am.

Oberio disclosed that Lotino was accused by the NPA rebels as one of the military informants in the village.

“Riding two motorcycles, the rebels forcibly opened the door of Lotino’s house and shot the victims at close range with Cal .45 pistol. Only 6 bullets were fired by the assailants on the victims who were sleeping during the time of the incident,” said Oberio.

Oberio identified the two other dead as Lotino’s wife, Evelyn, 45, and a nephew named Anjo Martos,20. Lotino’s teenage daughter, Jenny, 19, was seriously injured but played dead as she witnessed the brutal killings.

Prior to the killings, the NPA rebels staged a simultaneous attack on the military detachments in three different towns of Oas, Camalig and Daraga in Albay at around 9:00pm. No one was reported injured in these NPA harassments.

The military detachment in San Ramon village in Daraga town repulsed the rebels who fired indiscriminately at the soldiers at around 8:55pm (Oct 10). Military authorities believed that the harassments were part of the diversionary tactics of the NPA rebels whose main target was the Lotino family.

The massacre of the Lotino family was the second recorded attack on civilians in the province of Albay this year.

On September 26, 2010, one employee of Sunwest Corporation was killed in a daylight robbery perpetrated by the communist rebels in Sinungtan village in Guinobatan town.

The NPA rebels have so far killed 38 people all over Bicol Region in Calendar Year 2010. The list of victims include 4 soldiers, 8 militiamen and 1 policeman.

Major General Ruperto Pabustan, Commander of the 9th Infantry Division, has condemned the massacre of innocent civilians by the NPA bandits.