President Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte have denounced the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and swore to whip the full force of the government to resolve the case.
Meanwhile, Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos has sworn into office Vice Governor Carlo Jorge Joan Reyes as the province’s new governor.
PBBM statement
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the assassination of a sitting Governor, Gov. Roel Degamo of Negros Oriental,” he said in a Facebook post he accompanied with photos of him and the slain official.
He promised that justice would be served and that the government now navigates definite directions to put those responsible in the hands of justice.
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“My government will not rest until we have brought the perpetrators of this dastardly and heinous crime to justice,” he said.
“The investigation into this murder is developing rapidly. We have received much information and now have a clear direction on how to proceed to bring to justice those behind this killing,” he said.
He ended by issuing a stern warning against the perpetrators, saying surrendering is, in fact, their best option.
‘Political feud’
Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte said authorities should look into the province’s political situations that have claimed lives in the past.
“Authorities must start looking at the political feud that has gripped Negros Oriental and has taken so many lives, not just of Gov. Degamo,” she said in an updated statement uploaded on Facebook.
She also said that such an act shows the masterminds’ utter dishonor of the law as it disregarded civilian lives, who we likewise lost to the attack.
“The attack exposes the extent of desperation, depravity, and thirst for violence of the people who masterminded it as they showed an absolute absence of regard for the lives of the five civilians who were among the fatalities — making it all the more appalling and unforgivable,” she said.
‘Failure of police visibility’
Apart from the two highest officials, several other lawmakers also called out to the authorities to strengthen their efforts to protect civil society and prevent such attacks.
“I also must call on the PNP (Philippine National Police) to strengthen its efforts against the culture of impunity that seems to be encouraging more and more of these attacks to happen across the country. We cannot keep on letting these go on, especially when it puts innocent civilians in the crossfire,” said Senate PresidentJuan Miguel Zubiri in a statement.
“Every single incident like this ambush puts a dent in our people’s trust in the government. It is a failure of intelligence, a failure of police visibility, [and] a failure of our peace and security efforts,” he added.
Sen. Joel Villanueva echoed the same sentiment and described the incident as a “clear display of arrogance” against the government.
“We should never be accustomed to these senseless killings. We call on the PNP to act swiftly and put these criminals behind bars,” he said.
Degamo’s killing
Degamo was shot dead along with five others in an ambush Saturday (March 4) morning just outside their family’s residential compound in Barangay San Isidro, Pamplona town in the province.
His wife, Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo confirmed in a video message that her husband was pronounced dead at around 11:41 am.
Degamo was killed while attending an event for the beneficiaries of the 4Ps.
According to an earlier police report, six assailants were caught using long firearms and fled the scene aboard two SUVs.
Degamo was the second official killed under the Marcos administration. The first was Cagayan Vice Mayor Romel Almeda, who was ambushed in Nueva Vizcaya on February 19.
