Chief Inspector Rogelio Beraquit, Camalig police chief, said witnesses identified the suspects as Romy Palivino, chief barangay tanod of Barangay Tumpa, where the victims lived; Willy Nasol; Pablo Nopia and his brother Pedro; and Jesus Nopia, Jr.
"We have witnesses under our custody who saw the suspects on the night of the killings," said Beraquit. He withheld the witnesses’ identities for security reasons.
Senior Superintendent Roque Ramirez, Albay police director, said pursuing policemen encountered one of the suspects, Pedro Nopia, who engaged them in a brief shootout and managed to escape.
Ramirez led the reinforcement team from the Albay police headquarters, backed up by elements of the 501st and the 5th Regional Mobile Groups, that provided security to the witnesses’ families in Barangay Tumpa, about seven kilometers away from the Camalig town proper and six kilometers from Mayon Volcano.
Beraquit said charges of multiple murder will be filed against the five suspects for the killings of Jesus Moral, 48; his wife, Marilyn, 37; and their children Mark Kenneth, 10; Jemar Kim, 8; Jay-Ar, 7; and Mark Gil, 5, who all suffered multiple hack wounds. Jesus was also shot.
"All the suspects have left the barangay and have gone into hiding, but we will get them soon," Ramirez said.
Police investigators are now focusing on either a love triangle or a land dispute as the probable cause of the massacre.
Probers said the suspects gained entry into the Morals’ home by destroying the glass windows in the living room with big stones, 15 of which were found at the scene, and by forcibly opening the kitchen door.
The victims apparently resisted and struggled with their attackers because the house was in disarray, police said.
Marilyn was beaten up and hacked in the left side of her head, breaking her skull. Her right eye was pierced with a sharpened bamboo, and her hair was cut.
Jesus suffered two gunshot wounds in the abdomen and another one in the right arm.
The Morals’ four children were repeatedly hacked, while the fingers of Jemar Kim on the left hand were cut off. Their bodies were found in the kitchen.
Beraquit said the witnesses initially refused to provide information about the suspects who allegedly threatened them from testifying. — With Cet Dematera and Cecille Suerte Felipe