By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Security measures in Negros Oriental have been beefed up following the massacre in the province’s Pamplona town which claimed the lives of nine individuals, including Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo on March 4.
In a press conference in Dumaguete City over the weekend, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff, General Andres Castor Centino revealed that they were given orders by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. to restore peace and order in the province.
In response to the directive, the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have formed Joint Task Force Negros.
Hundreds of additional soldiers and police personnel arrived in the province over the weekend.
Among the police units that were deployed include the PNP-Special Action Force and the Philippine Army’s Light Reaction Company, both specializing in counter-terrorism operations.
Aside from manning checkpoints across the province’s national roads, Centino said the police units were also tasked with hunting down the remaining four or five suspects in the Pamplona massacre.
Centino added that they are not ruling out the possibility that some individuals may have also played a part in helping the remaining suspects to escape or providing a hiding spot for them.
However, despite the additional troops, there was no declaration of a state of emergency in Negros Oriental.
Meanwhile, Defense Undersecretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. asked for the residents’ cooperation in the security measures.
Degamo and eight civilians were killed after gunmen attacked the governor’s home in Pamplona’s Barangay San Isidro.
Degamo was distributing financial assistance at the time of the attack.
Three suspects were arrested hours after the attack. They were Joric Labrador, a former soldier and resident of Cagayan de Oro City; Joven Javier, also an ex-soldier and resident of Negros Occidental’s La Castellana town; and Benjie Rodriguez, a resident of Misamis Occidental’s Bonifacio town.
Suspects Osmindo Rivero and Rickyvelle Luces were also nabbed.
Four of the suspects have already been placed under the Witness Protection Program by the Department of Justice./DGB, WDJ