Murder charges have been filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against seven police officers in Quirino province in connection with the killing of an indigenous man last May.

The charges were filed by the NBI’s Bayombong District Office on 5 August 2025 with the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Quirino.

Those charged were identified as Police Major Fernando G. Manayod, Police Officer Jorey Cumahling, Police Officer Jimboy Irang, Police Officer Delmar Salvador, Police Officer Allan Fiad-ong, and Police Officer Jonathan Limmong. They are implicated in the fatal shooting of Jim B. White on 28 May 2025, in San Pugo, Nagtipunan.

The NBI said White, a member of the Bugkalot-Ilongot Indigenous Cultural Community, had reached an amicable settlement in his pending criminal cases through tribal mediation.

On 29 May, he was scheduled to surrender voluntarily to authorities — a day after he was killed.

The provincial director of Quirino was reportedly aware of the tribal arrangement.

The NBI investigation found that police operatives allegedly staged an operation along a remote uphill trail and ambushed and killed White.

Findings of the NBI medico-legal team showed that all bullet entry wounds were on White’s back — a detail that contradicts the officers’ claim that he fired at them first.

The NBI concluded that the killing was committed with treachery.