MANILA, Philippines – Gunmen in military uniform killed a governor and five civilians on Saturday while the provincial director was meeting with villagers at his home in the central Philippines, in the latest heavy-handed attack on local politics in the country, the police said.
At least six men armed with assault rifles and wearing military-style camouflage clothing and protective vests emerged from three SUVs and opened fire on Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, beating him and at least five others in front of his home in the city of Pamplona. The province has a history of violent political rivalries.
The Mayor of Pamplona Janice Degamo, the wife of the governor who was killed, said in a Facebook video that the five people of the town also died.
She asked for justice and said that her husband “did not deserve such a death. He was serving the electorate on Saturday with the heads of his department.”
10 suspects were seen fleeing the scene and later abandoned the SUVs, police said. Police set up security checkpoints and launched a region-wide search for the suspects.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the mid-morning attack, which happened when the poor villagers gathered in front of Degamo’s house to seek medical and other assistance.
“My government will not rest until we have brought the perpetrators of this heinous and heinous crime to justice,” Marcos said in a statement.
Marcos said without elaborating that authorities had “gathered a lot of information and now have clear instructions on how to proceed to bring those behind this murder to justice.” justice He spoke to the superintendent and the killers, saying, “We will get you. If you surrender now that will be your best option.”
Degamo’s killing shows that even local politicians are not immune to high-profile gun violence that has continued despite the government’s pledge to combat it.
Last month, Gov. Police said they killed one of the suspects in a confrontation.
In a separate recent attack, unidentified men reportedly wearing police uniforms shot at the van of the former mayor of the northern town of Aparri Rommel Alameda, killing him and five companions in the northern province of Nueva Vizcaya. The suspects are still at large.
Crimes, decades-long Muslim and communist insurgencies, and other security concerns are some of the main problems inherited by Marcos, who took office last June.
