The Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO) assured the safety of witnesses in the Senate hearing on the assassination of Governor Roel Degamo and other killings in the province.
“Regardless of their political affiliation or background, we will be doing our best, with the help of the military, to keep them safe,” Colonel Alex Guce Recinto, NOPPO provincial director, said.
At least 60 people, including the governor’s widow, Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, arrived at the airport in Dumaguete City from Metro Manila onboard a Philippine Air Force C-130 aircraft on Friday morning, April 21.
The group left Negros Oriental on April 15 to attend the three-day Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs hearings.
Some of them also attended the Department of Justice proceedings on the March 4 attack on the Degamo residential compound in Pamplona where the governor and eight others were killed.
Other witnesses not with the Degamo camp but who are seeking justice for the murder of relatives and who also appeared at the Senate hearings are also being secured, Recinto said.
Senator Ronald dela Rosa, committee chair, stressed during the Senate hearings that the inquiry into the Negros killings is not only limited to the Degamo murder.
Recinto said even before the witnesses’ departure for Metro Manila, he had already directed the police chiefs to secure the witnesses while also coordinating with counterparts in the national capital.
Local security measures include the deployment of uniformed personnel to regularly visit witnesses’ homes, strengthening of checkpoints, continuous mobile patrols, and intelligence monitoring.
The provincial police director also called on the witnesses to report immediately to the authorities any suspicious activity or persons, and to take the necessary precautions when leaving their homes.
He said he has also asked the Philippine Army for assistance, particularly for witnesses residing in remote villages.
Meanwhile, police are investigating the alleged strafing at a residence at Barangay Candau-ay’s Purok Gumamela in Dumaguete around 1:12 a.m.
Video footage from the Torres’ security cameras showed a white sport utility vehicle with at least one person inside firing a gun at their home.
The bamboo fence and the couple’s parked vehicle were hit and damaged, with two slugs from a .45-caliber pistol recovered from the garage.
Recinto said he had directed the city police chief, Lt. Colonel Ronoel Fungo, to dig deeper into the incident.
One angle being considered, he said, is the supposed connection of the victims to a political figure, although he declined to elaborate for security reasons and to avoid compromising an ongoing investigation. (PNA)