Police troops massacred in cold-blood barangay watchmen Edgar Minggoy, Marlon Bajar and Rolly Dela Cruz in Mobo, Masbate in the early morning of July 5.

According to witnesses, the victims were picked up by armed men from their houses in Barangay Bagacay in Mobo town, and Barangay Mapili in Balud on July 4 at midnight. Following the abduction, police and military troops repeatedly fired their weapons for one hour along the boundary of barangays Bagacay and Marintoc to make it appear that they encountered a unit of the New People’s Army (NPA).

The bursts of gunfire were heard in nearby communities which terrorized farmers and their children. After the incident, the police immediately peddled a fake story claiming that the civilians were killed during an encounter.

In a statement published on Monday, the New People’s Army (NPA)-Masbate belied the claims of the police that the three were killed in an encounter. They clarified that there was no NPA unit in the said area when the massacre took place.

The massacre is the second to have been perpetrated by the police in Masbate in less than a month. Last June 17, three farmers, including a minor, were also killed by the police in Barangay Mahayahay, Placer, Masbate. The victims were also tagged as NPA members.