President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured March 8 that justice will be served to the families of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and the eight others killed in the attack March 4.
Marcos issued the statement as he vowed to provide assistance to those who were injured during the gun attack.
“I just came here para makiramay sa family ni Gov. Roel. Nagtatanong lang kami kung ano pa ‘yung kailangang gawin, paano matulungan ‘yung mga biktima at pati ‘yung mga nasa ospital ngayon,” the President told members of the media following his visit to the wake of the late governor in Dumaguete City this afternoon.
“Nandiyan ‘yung mga ibang kamag-anak at asawa ng mga namatay kaya’t nakausap din natin. Sinabi ko lang sa kanila na makakaasa sila na magkakaroon ng hustisya dito sa inyong probinsiya na naging masyadong magulo na,” the President said.
He also committed to give educational scholarship to the children of those killed, and to shoulder the medical fees of those wounded.
The President has strongly condemned the assassination of Degamo last Saturday, vowing that his administration will do everything in its power to bring those behind the killing to the bar of justice.
“My government will not rest until we have brought the perpetrators of this dastardly and heinous crime to justice,” the President said in an earlier statement released via the Presidential Communications Office.
Degamo’s killing is “entirely unacceptable and it will not stand,” the President said, adding that the suspects “cannot go unpunished.”
Reports said gunmen barged into the residential compound of Degamo, 56, in Pamplona town Saturday morning, and opened fire as the governor was distributing aid to constituents, killing him and several others.
Last month, the Supreme Court declared Degamo as the winner in the Negros Oriental gubernatorial race following a recount that unseated his rival./PCO photos
