Brothers shot dead, pa hurt in Iloilo ambush

ILOILO City, Philippines—Three unidentified gunmen waylaid and shot dead two siblings and wounded their father in San Rafael town in Iloilo Monday noon.

Superintendent Gil Lebin, Iloilo police director, identified the fatalities as Rolly Napacia, 24, and his brother Rey, 17. Both suffered bullet wounds in the head.

Their father, Rolando, was wounded in the neck and thigh and was taken to the Barotac Viejo District Hospital.

Inspector Danny Lamera, San Rafael police chief, said in a telephone interview that the three victims were on their way home when they were attacked in Barangay (village) Bagacay in San Rafael, Iloilo, around 61 kilometers north of Iloilo City.

Lamera said the gunmen hid in a sugarcane field and waited for the victims to pass by.  They immediately fled after the killings.

A land dispute is being eyed as the motive of the attack, according to Lamera.

Police recovered shells from .45-cal. and 9 mm hand guns and from a homemade 12-gauge shotgun.