Father, two sons killed in Ilocos Day ambush

By Jun Guiang and Freddie Lazaro

BADOC, Ilocos Norte – A father and his two sons were killed while another relative was wounded in a broad daylight ambush in Barangay Nagrebcan, Badoc, Ilocos Norte Monday afternoon.

The victims were reportedly aboard two animal-drawn carts when hooded gunmen opened fire on them, killing two of the men instantly.

The third victim was able to run initially but was chased and gunned down in a nearby rice field.

PO3 Alfred Salem of the Badoc police identified the fatalities as Bernabe Agapay and his sons Kennedy, 43, and Eliseo, 46, all of Barangay Barangobong, Nueva Era, Ilocos Norte.

Wounded was Marcelina Agapay, 43, Eliseo’s wife who was hit in the buttock and was rushed to the Corpuz Clinic and Hospital in Sinait, Ilocos Sur.

Police said the shooting happened about 1:20 p.m. Investigators recovered seven empty M-16 rifle shells, two .45 caliber shells and three 9mm shells from the ambush scene.

Senior Insp. Jonathan Papay, Badoc police chief, said the family was on their way home to the upland town of Nueva Era aboard two carabao-drawn carts when they were ambushed.

They just came from the Badoc town proper where they sold charcoal and other farm products in the public market.

The Agapays were leading a convoy of eight other carts driven by fellow farmers from Nueva Era. The first volley of gunfire hit the elder Agapay and Eliseo, killing them instantly.

Kennedy, who was in the second cart, jumped and tried to escape but the suspects chased him and finished him off in a nearby rice field.