Wounded victims file frustrated murder complaints against suspects in Pamplona massacre

MILITARY PRECISION A screenshot from a security camera at the residence of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo shows gunmen wearing Army uniforms and bulletproof vests casually entering his compound in Pamplona town on Saturday before shooting him and other people, then withdrawing with military precision. . —ROEL DEGAMO FACEBOOK PHOTO/CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental – Five of the 13 individuals who were wounded in the shooting in Pamplona town, Negros Oriental last March 4, 2023, filed complaints of frustrated murder against the suspects. 

Police Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson of the Special Investigation Task Group, said that the eight others have yet to file similar complaints since they are still in the hospital. Pelare said that these five victims filed the complaints on Tuesday, March 7. 

“May mga ipapafile na kaso as the days go by because yung iba pang victims are still in the hospital. Five of the 13 injured victims already executed affidavits and these were attached to the complaints that we have forwarded to the Department of Justice,” Pelare said. 

Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo was killed along with eight others in the brutal shooting that happened inside the governor’s compound in Pamplona town.

Earlier, Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, the wife of Governor Degamo,  said that their family, together with three other families, filed murder complaints against the suspects last Monday.

Authorities have already arrested four suspects. They are Joric Labrador, 50, an ex-army, and a resident of Cagayan De Oro; Joven Aber, 42, an ex-army ranger, a resident of Barangay Robles in La Castellana, Negros Occidental; Benjie Rodriguez, 45, a native of Mindanao; and Osmundo Rivero, an ex-army from Zamboanga City. One suspect who has yet to be identified was killed in a firefight in Bayawan City. 

Reports of arrested persons

Police are still hunting other suspects at large. Pelare said that they received reports of some arrests done outside the SITG or from different police units in the region. However, they haven’t verified yet if these arrested individuals have something to do with the Pamplona massacre case. 

Pelare expressed confidence that the remaining at-large suspects are still on the island. Police and the military are strictly implementing checkpoints around the island of Negros. Entry and exit points of the entire island have been sealed. 

Pelare added that they already received identification of some of the firearms that they recovered in the past days. Some of these are licensed, some are not. However, Pelare could not further disclose more details about this for now. 

Earlier, Pelare disclosed that they found out that some of the rifles that the police recovered in Bayawan City matched the empty shells found inside the compound of Degamo.

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