A retired Navy major and four others died in what police investigators  described as a grisly massacre right inside a military housing area in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, officials said Tuesday.

Senior Superintendent Daniel Caesar Miranda, chief of the Puerto Princesa City Police, said the fatality includes the wife of retired Navy lieutenant commander Ernesto Paiton identified as Carmelita, his 21-year-old daughter Erlita, and relatives Renato Cabatuan, 17, and, Sharon Cabatuan, 19.

Miranda said Paiton’s wife is an active military nurse with a rank of Chief Petty Officer while their daughter Erlita works as a nurse at the Palawan Provincial Hospital.

The two other victims are his relatives who stayed in the couple’s house at the Naval Officer Village along Western Command Road in Barangay San Miguel because of the proximity to their school, the Palawan State University in Puerto Princesa City.

Miranda said the house is located outside the headquarters of the Western Command but the area is owned by the military as it has been serving as quarters for its personnel.

“The massacre was discovered by their son when he arrived home past 6 p.m. yesterday (Monday),” said Miranda in a phone interview.

“We are still trying to find out the motive of the crime but based on the initial investigation it appears that it is personal grudge-related,” he said.

Miranda said they are temporarily ruling out the robbery motive since all the money and valuables of the victims were found to be intact when police investigators proceeded to the area to investigate.

Miranda said the massacre might have been committed as early as Monday morning as soon as the perpetrators gained entry to the house.

He, however, said that it appeared that the victims may have known the perpetrators since there are no signs of forced entry in the house.

“The victims were either hacked to death or stabbed dead,” said Miranda, noting that the victims were tied, an indication, he said, that the perpetrators stayed in the house for several hours.

The retired Navy officer’s body was found inside the house’s comfort room, with Miranda saying that all the victims were killed one after another.

The official said that victims were found tied up and with their mouths shut with masking tape.

Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr., spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said that the local Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) is now conducting a deeper probe on the case.

Cruz said that the younger Paiton is now being secured by the local police against the perpetrators.