By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – The Police Regional Office (PRO)-Central Visayas, said it already extracted the revelation made by one of the suspects tagging Negros Oriental third district Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. as the alleged mastermind in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo even before it went out to the public on Thursday, March 9.
In a statement, the regional police office, said “the declarations made publicly earlier by one of the suspects in the killing of Degamo were information that we already acquired from the moment we arrested the four suspects, six hours from the incident.”
Degamo and eight others, including two barangay officials, were killed when armed men barged into his residence in Pamplona town on March 4. Degamo was talking to his constituents who were seeking assistance from the provincial government. Seventeen other individuals, including a medical doctor and two soldiers, were wounded in the gun attack.
Three suspects were arrested hours after the deadly attack happened, while another was neutralized by the authorities in Bayawan City. The fourth suspect was arrested the following day. Criminal charges have been filed against the arrested suspects and 12 “John Does.”
The regional police office said that when they forwarded the case for inquest, they already have the complete picture of what transpired before, during, and after the incident, including the identities of the suspects, including the alleged mastermind.
“While we had these significant developments at hand at the early stage of the conduct of massive hot pursuit operations, we maintained that these be revealed in due time as not to compromise the conduct of investigations,” the PRO-Central Visayas said in its statement.
The regional police office said that “upon the completion of the necessary documents, we have turned over the suspects and the pieces of evidence to the Department of Justice (DOJ), as part of the process, with their extrajudicial confessions taken in accord with the law.”
Currently, the prosecution of the case is under the control of the DOJ after two of the suspects manifested their willingness to testify in court as state witnesses, they said.
“With the strong perseverance of PRO-Central Visayas to solve the crime and our collaboration with other government agencies, we were successful in unmasking the perpetrators and mastermind in this unacceptable attack,” said Police Brigadier General Jerry Bearis, PRO-Central Visayas director.
“These have been the result of all the relentless operations conducted by our personnel on the ground immediately after the attack occurred,” the PRO-Central Visayas also said.
Bearis, in a statement, said that they are likewise confident that with the pieces of evidence at hand, all the persons involved in this killing will be properly prosecuted and justice served to the families.
The arrested suspects in an interview with national media, said they have no knowledge about the incident, as they only applied for VIP security.
In a media interview during Degamo’s wake at the Provincial Capitol on Thursday, the slain governor’s wife, Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, said that she was convinced that Teves was behind the incident.
“There were several incidents in the past that have made me believe that he is the only one, along with those “galamay” niya, who can do these kinds of acts to people – marami, hindi lang po si Governor (Degamo),” the mayor said.
The local chief executive has earlier said that the death of her husband was politically-motivated. “I am expecting a battle, maybe a long battle, but I believe we have a very solid case,” she said.
Degamo assumed as governor of the province and unseated Rep. Teves’s brother, former Bayawan City Mayor Pryde Henry Teves, after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) credited to the late governor the votes of nuisance candidate ‘Ruel Degamo.’
Rep. Teves earlier denied any involvement in the crime, claiming that others just want to pin it on him.
Meanwhile, Rep. Teves’s lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said in a statement that “we call on all concerned to observe sobriety in their pronouncements regarding the allegations against Rep. Arnie Teves in the face of certain accusations against him in connection with the killing of Governor Roel Degam and several other persons.”
Topacio said that the killing has already been denounced strongly by Rep. Teves, who has denied involvement therein. “It will not serve the ends of justice by publicly obfuscating the issues prematurely before a thorough investigation in accordance with procedures provided for by law,” he added.
“Verily, justice can only be done to the victims if and when the real perpetrators are brought before the bar of justice and convicted with finality. In the meantime, all must be mindful of the fact that our Supreme Court itself has already said that accusation is not synonymous with guilt, and the Constitution guarantees to every person the presumption of innocence,” Topacio also said.
“We shall face any and all accusations consistent with the courses outlined in the legal system, confident that, in the end, our client will be exonerated,” he added.
