MANILA: Senator Imee Marcos on Sunday suggested that Negros Oriental be placed under a state of emergency for justice to be swiftly served following the brutal slaying of Governor Roel Degamo and eight others.
Marcos, who had worked with Degamo in the Governors’ League when she was still the governor of Ilocos Norte, also said Negros Oriental should be locked down so those who were behind the killing could not leave the province.
“I am calling for the declaration of state of emergency in the entire province of Negros Oriental as soon as possible. This needs to stop and not only the hitmen or the murderers but also the mastermind, their paymasters, and whoever conspired to make this happen should be apprehended,” Marcos said during an interview after she visited the wake of Degamo in Dumaguete City.
She expressed hope that the arrested suspects will cooperate and could lead to the identification of other individuals responsible for Saturday morning’s gun attack.
“Let us leave no stone unturned and no culprits unpunished. This cannot go unpunished and the perpetrators of this heinous crime, barbaric as it is and cowardly, should be punished as soon as possible,” she said.
Marcos also paid tribute to her former colleague.
“Governor Roel made a great contribution in initiating the local peace talks with the NPA [New People’s Army] through President [Rodrigo] Duterte at that time. I was also fighting for more investments in agriculture and similarly, Governor Roel was very concerned about fisheries and the restoration of the old Fisheries Code under my father,” she said.
The senator is supposed to visit the province on March 28 and lead the distribution of Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation, together with Degamo, to single mothers, persons with disabilities, and senior citizens.
It can be recalled that during the attack, Degamo and other officials were inside his residential compound in Pamplona town, preparing the assistance coursed through Marcos’ office when the attack happened.
“It’s sad. He asked capitol employees to go to his house on a Saturday to finish the list so my program can be finalised. It’s really a shame and I know what Roel been through in the past one and a half year. It has been very hard for him,” she said.
Meanwhile, other senators also condemned the killings and asked authorities to swiftly solve the case.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri expressed alarm over the surge of assassinations of local chief executives in the past weeks.
Zubiri was referring to the attack against Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, the recent ambush on Datu Montawal, Maguindanao del Sur Mayor Ohto Montawal, and the killing of Vice Mayor Rommel Almeda in Cagayan.
“For this ambush to happen while Gov. Degamo was in the middle of attending to 4Ps [Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program] beneficiaries is absolutely appalling. It is sick and heartless, and the suspects should rot in jail. Heads must roll, and the PNP [Philippine National Police] must crack down on this case immediately,” Zubiri said 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, a failure of our peace and security efforts,” he added.
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said the PNP must put an end to the killings and not wait for a similar incident to happen again.
“These killings must end now. These acts of violence and lawlessness are a clear display of arrogance against our government. We should never be accustomed to these senseless killings. We call on the PNP to act swiftly and put these criminals behind bars,” Villanueva said in a separate statement.
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