Remulla: Alleged mastermind shown in footage
BY ASHZEL HACHERO and VICTOR REYES
ARRESTED suspects in the killing of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo have revealed the existence of a video recording of their conversation with the mastermind, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said yesterday.
This developed as the PNP said Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr has ordered the relief of police personnel in the entire Negros Oriental province following last Saturday’s daring attack by about 10 to 12 gunmen, which led to the death of Degamo and eight others and wounding of 17 others.
Earlier, only police personnel from Bayawan City were relieved.
Remulla did not disclose the content of the video surrendered by the arrested suspects but said it has “probative value” in the investigation.
“A live conversation happened on video with the person na tinuturo nila (that they are pointing to as mastermind),” he said adding, “Alam niyo naman ngayong nag-pandemic (You all know when the pandemic hit), we were all on video, we were all speaking on video.”
He also said one of the suspects, in a statement, pointed to a mastermind.
“There’s a statement already to the effect that there was a mastermind, but we have to evaluate it properly,” he said, also without giving the details of the statement.
“I will not, I cannot confirm any details as of now. Mahirap magbigay ng detalye pa (It’s difficult to give details yet). Sinasabi ko lang (all I said) that a mastermind is being pointed to already,” he added.
He also declined to say whether the alleged mastermind being pointed to by the suspects is a politician.
He said the case may soon be solved.
“I only have read the preliminary statements that were done and I can say that the end is near, except for that all the perpetrators have not been rounded up. There are a few more people that we have to round up,” he said.
Four suspects — Joric Garido Labrador, Joven Calibjo Javier, Benjie Rodriguez and Osmundo Rojas Rivero — are in police custody while another was killed in pursuit operations by joint police and military teams.
State prosecutors have filed murder and frustrated murder complaints against them, as well as illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives.
All of the suspects in custody have also signified their intention to cooperate with authorities and the DOJ is evaluating the statements of two of them to see if they would qualify for the Witness Protection Program.
A DOJ statement on Tuesday said the motive of the murder has yet to be confirmed as it and the Department of the Interior and Local Government are all effort to determine all the factors at play in the attack last Saturday, which left Degamo and eight others dead.
While the DOJ and the DILG have been careful not to state the motive behind the brazen killing, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has expressed belief the case is “political.”
Meanwhile, Remulla said he has not talked to Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves who was sued for three counts of murder Tuesday in connection with several killings in the province, including board member Miguel Dungog in 2019.
He said the last time he talked to with Teves was about three months ago.
Teves in a message posted on his Facebook account earlier denied any involvement or knowledge in Degamo’s killing, saying he and his brother Pryde Henry, who was ousted from the gubernatorial post by the slain governor last year, would not benefit from it.
He has yet to issue a statement on the multiple murder complaints filed against him before the DOJ.
RELIEF
PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo said “massive relief” of police personnel in Negros Oriental is “geared towards preserving the integrity of the organization.”
Lt. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia, PNP deputy chief for administration, on Monday implemented the order in the Bayawan City police station, with 75 personnel relieved, and yesterday at the Sta Catalina municipal police station, with 56 personnel.
Negros Oriental is composed of 19 municipalities and six cities. Fajardo said the order will be implemented in other areas in the coming days.
Fajardo said the policemen from other police provincial offices in Central Visayas will replace the PNP personnel from Negros Oriental.
As to the relieved Negros Oriental policemen, Fajardo said they will undergo retraining and reorientation, after which they will be assigned to other provinces.
“We have to understand that what happened in Negros Oriental is really a senseless act of violence. Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures,” she said.
Asked why the order was implemented first in Bayawan City, Fajardo said this was made on the recommendation of the Special Investigation Task Group Degamo which is tasked to solve the case.
“We all know that we got the four suspects there (in Bayawan City) and part of the investigation is look into why the suspects decided to go there. That is one of the things we are looking into,” said Fajardo.
The four suspects, all former Army soldiers, were arrested during hot pursuit operations in Barangay Cansumalig.
THREAT ASSESSMENT
On Monday, Abalos and PNP officials met with members of the Union of Local Authorities in the Philippines (ULAP), headed by Quirino Gov. Dax Cua, to discuss attack on Degamo and other elected local officials.
The local officials expressed concern but Abalos, according to Fajardo, assured them that the situation in Negros Oriental is “being managed by the PNP and AFP and we will do everything within the authority and mandate of the PNP and NBI to immediately resolve and unmask the mastermind behind this incident.”
Also discussed during the meeting was the conduct of threat assessment on elected government officials.
“Some of the local officials expressed their intention to avail themselves of additional police security, particularly those who are perceived to be receiving some concern with respect to their personal security,” said Fajardo.
PNP rules allow local officials to maintain only two policemen as bodyguards. They can have additional security personnel if there is threat on their lives.
Asked how many local officials asked to be given additional security, Fajardo said, “I don’t have the exact figures but in general, they expressed the intention to avail of the protective security detail coming from the PSPG because of what happened recently.”
On reports that the suspects in the case have surrendered a video recording of their conversation with the alleged mastermind, Fajardo said: “(I have) no information on that.”
Pressed if Rep. Teves and his brother Henry Pryde are suspects in the case, Fajardo just said, “From the very start we are not naming any names without direct evidence pointing to their culpability.”
She stressed that the SITG is careful in releasing information about the case so as not to preempt the ongoing investigation.
MARCOS VISITS WAKE
President Marcos Jr. assured Degamo’s family and those of the other victims they would get justice.
The President attended the wake of Degamo and condoled with his family and the families of the other victims of the incident, and promised them and the injured financial aid.
“I just came here to condole with the family of Governor Roel. We asked what else we can do to help the victims, including those in the hospital. The relatives, wives of those who perished were there and we talked with them. I told them that they can be sure that justice would be served in this province that has been in chaos,” he said in mixed Filipino and English.
Marcos was accompanied by Abalos, Remulla, Sermonia, Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo Jr., and Dumaguete City Mayor Felipe Remollo, among others.
Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, wife of the governor, said they appreciate the effort of the President to take time out from his busy schedule to visit the wake and the assurance he gave them and the other families of the victims.
On investigations, she said authorities were able to gather evidence to identify and pin down the mastermind behind the incident.
She also said they do not have anything against those who may be placed under the Witness Protection Program, if it would help identify the mastermind and bring them to justice. She said they prefer to know who are really behind the attack than just be suspicious of someone which would be unfair to all parties.
ADDITIONAL SECURITY
Lawmakers gave the PNP a chance to explain why it failed to Degamo’s killing and asked the police to beef up their own security, fearing that they, too, are vulnerable to assassination attempts.
The House committee on public order and safety chaired by Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez gave the PNP held a motu proprio hearing on Degamo’s killing.
Misamis Occidental Rep. Ando Oaminal said he was wondering why the incident happened when there were already verified reports of the threats to the governor’s life and that even Abalos himself has said that Degamo, who was his friend, had reported the threats to him.
“So if the threats were indeed validated, by the authorities or the intel department of the PNP, so why is it that we failed to prevent it?” Oaminal asked the PNP. “What assurance can the organization or the institution give us? Because, as I’ve said, these threats have already been validated.”
Brig. Gen Matthew Baccay, the PNP’s head for directorate for personnel and records management, said the request for additional security was still under study.
He said the PNP, the DILG, the Union of Local Authorities in the Philippines, League of Governors, and the League of Mayors discussed the matter last Tuesday.
Baccay said the PNP can only grant two protective security personnel (PSP) to each local chief executive and so “for now, the move of the PNP is (to) provide additional security personnel for those with validated threat assessment and for the others who wish to avail of PSPs and PAs (protective agents),” Baccay added.
Fernandez said there is a need to increase the security of elected officials, including lawmakers, because “otherwise, all of us elected officials will have these bad dreams every night that when we wake up, we are the next targets.”
Oaminal asked Baccay what the PNP intends to do for the more than 300 House members since they, too, are obviously under threat, being elected officials.
Baccay said the additional security for congressmen is also being reviewed, noting that they can add up to six men to each one “under extreme and emergency cases” since a lawmaker is only limited to two body guards.
NOT ISOLATED
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros yesterday said the seven attacks on politicians in the first months of the Marcos administration are not isolated cases as what “authorities would like us to believe.”
In an interview with ANC, she also said the attack on Degamo could have been politically-motivated because it was carried out after the Supreme Court affirmed a decision of the Commission on Elections to nullify Henry Teves’ victory and proclaimed Degamo as the winner in the 2022 gubernatorial race in the province.
Hontiveros said the Comelec should have declared as nuisance candidate a certain Ruel Degamo before the 2022 elections so as not to create confusion on election day, and possible political vendetta could have been prevented.
Meanwhile, the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines expressed support to President Marcos Jr’s order for authorities to conduct a crackdown on private armies and illegal firearms.
“Private armies and illegal firearms only serve to promote lawlessness and instability, and they threaten the peace and security of the communities they operate in,” said Military Ordinariate chancellor Fr Harley Flores.
“It is therefore the responsibility of the government to take strong action to dismantle these groups and confiscate their weapons,” he added. — With Jocelyn Montemayor, Wendell Vigilia, Raymond Africa and Gerard Naval
