MANILA, Philippines — A teenager and his grandfather were killed by masked gunmen in Barangay Tangos, Navotas while Caloocan City, a couple died in an ambush in Barangay 171 Bagumbong, all on Thursday night.
The father of Kenneth Maglunso, 15, said the boy had asked permission to go out to buy snacks.
“Huwag ka na kako umalis dahil baka may mangyaring di maganda … maya-maya may narinig na ako alingawngaw ng putok. Pagsilip ko sa bintana nakita ko na anak ko nakabulagta, pagbaling ko sa kaliwa ‘yung tatay ko nakabulagta (I told him not to go out because something bad might happen … a few moments later I heard gunshots. When I looked out the window I saw my son on the ground, looking to the left I saw my father also sprawled on the ground),” he said.
Barangay official Randy Bacolod said the teenager was the likely target of the four masked gunmen while Fernando dela Cruz, 76, was shot as he rushed to his grandson.
The gunmen, he said, had warned bystanders not to interfere before they shot Kenneth.
The boy’s father acknowledged his son’s killing may have stemmed from his attempt to pacify a “riot” between youth gangs in a neighboring village where he and his friends had attended a wake.
Meanwhile, in Caloocan City, Lusito Bandola, 45, and his partner Edna Umali, 47, were riding a motorcycle when they were ambushed by two pairs of motorcycle-riding killers who a witness said had been lying in wait for them.
Investigators, who recovered nine .45 caliber shells, said the incident could be linked to illegal drugs.