PALAWAN - Two of six suspects in the brutal killing of two Japanese tourists were charged with murder in Culion here, Tuesday.

Hiroyuki Nagahama, the alleged mastermind, and Reynante Labampa, an interpreter, were charged with two counts of murder.

Another suspect named Jovis Viscarra has surrendered to the police but he has yet to face the media.

Labampa said they planned to kill tourists Itani Masaru and Arai Yoshihiro so they could claim their insurance.

He added that Nagahama could have gotten two insurance claims from the victims: first, from being a middleman in the search and rescue operations of the authorities, and then through a commission from Japanese insurance firms.

Labampa said they pretended to be taking the tourists on an island-hopping tour to execute the crime that was ordered by Nagahama.

"Pagdating doon sa pampang, ang sabi po maghihiwalay kami kasi may emergency meeting sa El Nido, tapos sila (mga biktima) naman po ay mag-island hopping... 'Yun po yung drama, pero diretso na talaga kami sa Island (Isla Galoc) tapos doon na sila pinatay," Labampa said.

The 2 Japanese tourists and their boatman, Michael Suangco, were reported missing on May 30.

After a few days of search and rescue operations, Suangco admitted that the tourists were killed in Galoc Island in Culion.

Operations to find the victims' remains and the boat, which the suspects sunk, were ongoing as of this posting.

Police are still looking for suspect Sonny Anicete and his cohorts under aliases "Jun" and "Baldo." --Report from Cherry Camacho, ABS-CBN News