LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines — A man and a teenager were shot and seriously wounded after three gunmen riding in tandem aboard a red motorcycle fired at them in Sariaya, Quezon early Monday, police said.

Police Officer 3 Noriel Banaag, Sariaya police investigator, identified the victims as Michael Galera, 32 and Wilson Albitos, 15, both residents of Sariaya town.

In his report, Banaag said the victims and three other companions were standing at a street corner at the poblacion (town center) when the gunmen stopped in front of them and started to taunt them. The victims’ group ignored the assailants.

The gunmen left with a warning they would return.

A few minutes later, the gunmen again showed up, with one of them armed with a handgun and started firing at Galera’s group.

After the shooting, the assailants sped off in the direction of Lucena City.

Police said Galera was hit in the left forearm and left side of his body while Albitos was hit in the left leg.

The victims were rushed to Quezon Medical Center in Lucena and were declared out of danger.

Investigators recovered slugs from a .38 revolver at the crime scene.

Earlier, San Francisco town Mayor Hernani Tan, president of the Quezon Mayors league, has asked the Philippine National Police to conduct massive operations against loose firearms in the province.

PNP has estimated 1.1 million loose firearms in the country as of 2008, most of them in the hands of civilians which are being used in crimes.

Police statistics show that most violent crimes in the country are committed with the use of firearms, most of them unlicensed.