3 slain by ‘NBI men’

NUEVA ECIJA—Three family members were shot and killed by armed men who introduced themselves as National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents in Barangay Mayamot, Zaragoza town, on Wednesday, police said.

Chief Insp. Armando Santiago, town police chief, said Fernandito de Guzman, his wife, Rosalinda, and their newly wed daughter Norie dela Cruz, all of San Antonio town, were taken by the armed men from their village in Panabingan and were found dead here.

Santiago said De Guzman and his son-in law, Marcos dela Cruz, were aboard a tricycle but were intercepted by four men in a van who presented a supposed arrest warrant. They were taken to their house to fetch Rosalinda allegedly because she was also a subject of a separate warrant. Their daughter, Norie, however, insisted on going with her parents while her husband stayed home to prepare documents that they may need.

Fernandito de Guzman Jr. said the attack could be related to a land dispute because his father once told him about threats he was receiving because of his role in leading a farmers’ group in a battle for a large agricultural land in their town. Armand Galang, Inquirer Central Luzon