Bulacan tricycle driver, 2 children massacred

HAGONOY, Bulacan, Philippines - – A 46-year-old tricycle driver and his two children aged 24 and 15 were massacred while asleep in their house in this coastal town Thursday night, police said.

Superintendent Rizalino Andaya, Hagonoy police chief, said the victims – Andres Vengco, his son Michael, 24, and daughter Mary Rose, 15 – were shot in the head and different parts of the body.

Vengco’s four-year-old son John Lloyd was spared by the still unidentified attackers.

Police said the victims were asleep when the killers barged into their house in Barangay Sta. Monica here by kicking the main door at around 11:50 p.m. Thursday. Vengco and his elder children were then shot.

A neighbor told police he heard noises in the Vengcos’ house followed by a series of gunshots, which he initially thought were ordinary firecrackers exploding.

Vengco’s wife Estrelita arrived home about 30 minutes later and found her husband and two children dead.

Police recovered seven empty shells, one live bullet and two slugs from a .45-caliber pistol.

Probers were still trying to determine the motive for the massacre, but residents alleged it could be related to illegal drugs.