MALASIQUI, Pangasinan — A quiet late afternoon shattered into chaos in Barangay Barang when two young men were shot dead and a woman was wounded in what authorities are describing as a targeted drive-by execution. The double homicide has rattled the local community and prompted immediate fallout within the local police force.
The brazen attack took place along a street where the victims were gathered on Monday afternoon, July 27, 2026.
According to preliminary police reports, the fatalities—aged 24 and 22—were sitting outside with a female companion when two unidentified men aboard a motorcycle approached the group. Witnesses recounted a chilling sequence of events: the gunmen allegedly targeted the victims, fired initial shots, and briefly sped away, only to circle back seconds later to finish the execution and ensure the two young men did not survive.
The two male victims died from multiple gunshot wounds. The woman caught in the crossfire survived the onslaught but sustained injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment.
The violence has drawn an immediate and severe administrative response from provincial law enforcement leaders. Following the shooting, the two police officers explicitly assigned to patrol the sector were abruptly relieved of their posts pending an internal investigation.
"The two police personnel assigned there were not able to prevent or immediately respond to the shooting," stated Police Colonel Dennis de Leon, officer-in-charge of the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office, underscoring the department's frustration with the security lapse.
Lieutenant Colonel Francis Sawadan, chief of the Malasiqui Municipal Police Station, announced on Monday that investigators have successfully identified several persons of interest and secured crucial eyewitness testimonies.
"There are persons of interest and there are witnesses. At any time starting today, we may already file the appropriate case in connection with this incident," Sawadan said. However, police are withholding the specific names of the suspects and a definitive motive behind the double murder to prevent jeopardizing the ongoing criminal filings before they reach the courts.
A localized manhunt remains active as provincial tactical intelligence teams work to track down the motorcycle-riding hit men.
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