President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the creation of a high-level special task force to be led by Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. and Justice Secretary Jesus Remulla to ensure a holistic government response following the assasination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo.
This as Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Saturday said the government can cancel the passport of Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. and work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his extradition if it is proven that he is one of the masterminds in the attack against Degamo that also left eight other people dead.
“If he is one of the masterminds and the evidence against him is quite strong, the government has a remedy for that. His passport can be canceled if there is a warrant of arrest, and we can coordinate with the FBI so that apprehending and bringing Congressman Teves back to the Philippines can be peaceful,” Zubiri said in an interview with dwIZ.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez previously urged Teves, who was supposed to return to the country Friday from a trip to the US, to come back home.
On Thursday, suspects in the killing of Degamo tagged “Cong Teves” as the mastermind behind the assassination.
Rep. Teves is also facing three murder charges for his alleged involvement in the killing of Negros Oriental Board Member Miguel Dungog and two others in 2019.
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the Special Task Force Degamo headed by Abalos and Remulla will have Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Andres Centino and National Bureau of Investigation Dir. Menardo de Lemos as task force commanders.
Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., in a press briefing from Dumaguete after visiting Degamo’s wake, said a separate Joint Task Force Negros composed of police and military will focus on two goals: “to get all 10 suspects in the assassination, and to dismantle all tentacles of violence” in both Negros Oriental and Occidental.
“There is always time for reckoning. And this day is that time,” Galvez said.
At least four to five more suspects who may have directly participated in the attack are still the subject of a manhunt and are believed to still be in Negros Oriental, Police Regional Office 7 spokesperson Lt. Col. Gerard Ace Pelare said.
For his part, Senator JV Ejercito said investigators should look into the absence of five out of six PNP personnel assigned to Degamo on the day he was killed. “These 5 should be investigated for conspiring with the mastermind,” Ejercito said on Twitter.