Aguirre orders NBI to conduct probe on Bulacan massacre

Workers of a funeral parlor bring out a body from the Carlos family house in the City of San Jose del Monte in Bulacan province. Five family members, three of them children, were found dead in the house. —EDWIN BACASMAS

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct an investigation and case buildup regarding the killing of five people in Bulacan.

In a Department Order issued Monday, Aguirre ordered NBI Director Dante Gierran to initiate the probe.

He also required the NBI to submit a report on the progress of the investigation.

Aguirre said he ordered the parallel probe to take a second look at the findings of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Last June 27, 2017, Aurora Carlos, her daughter Estrella and her three children were killed inside their house in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.

READ: Massacre in Bulacan

One suspect has been arrested and admitted to the killing. Initial reports say that the suspects were high on drugs and alcohol but a drug test on the first arrested suspect yielded negative  results.

“Some people were asking that a parallel investigation be made. I don’t want to do it but some people wanted the NBI to take a second look at the findings,” Aguirre told reporters Monday. JE/rga