Insp. Leonard Amar, Dumalag police chief, said the bodies of Ramona Gafate, 70, a retired teacher and aunt of the Capiz prelate, and those of househelp Wilma Catalan, 27, and her two daughters, Suwie, 5, and Christine, 3, were found in a state of decomposition inside the house in Barangay Poblacion on Tuesday afternoon.
The bodies bore multiple hack and stab wounds and their throats were slashed, Amar said, adding investigators recovered a knife, a machete and an axe at the scene.
They also found a suicide note purportedly written by Wilma.
He said an investigation was ongoing.
Dumalag is 50 kilometers south of Roxas City, the provincial capital.