3 teenagers shot dead while fishing in Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines –Unidentified men shot dead three high school students while they were fishing in a remote village in Parang, Maguindanao, on Tuesday, the police said Wednesday.

The victims were identified as Jubert dela Cerna, 13; Rico Divinagracia, 15; and Jomar Mama, 13.

Senior Superintendent Marcelo Pintac, Maguindanao police chief, said he has ordered the Parang police to conduct a thorough investigation of the 4 p.m. shooting in Barangay (village) Molina and to hasten the identification and arrest of the killers.

Pintac said relatives of one of the victims surmised that the gunmen might have thought the boys belonged to a clan with which they were feuding. Feuds between families or even clans are common in Maguindanao.