14-2-2025 (MANILA) Two farmers were killed and two others were wounded in a brutal attack by armed assailants at Sitio Pagbahan, Barangay Alacaak, Santa Cruz, Occidental Mindoro on Thursday evening.
The victims were resting in a hut near Pagbahan River when three armed men wearing bonnets abducted them around 11 PM. The assailants forced the farmers to march to Pagbahan bridge, where they were ordered to lie face down before being shot.
Clempoy Barrientos and Rustom Bayan, 47, both active members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) and the Katasan Farmers Association, died on the spot. Two other members of the Katasan Farmers Association, Jorly Maximo, 43, and Salvador Bang-asan, 61, managed to escape despite being fired upon. They sustained injuries but survived after local residents, who heard the gunshots, rushed them to hospital.
Police Captain Aldrin Tividad, chief of Santa Cruz Municipal Police Station, identified an ongoing land dispute as the primary motive for the attack. The deceased victims were reportedly petitioners in a contentious claim over 55 hectares of land in Santa Cruz, Occidental Mindoro.
