TEN suspects in the murder of Negros Oriental’s governor and 26 other victims are now under police custody, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Monday.
At a livestreamed news briefing, Interior Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos, Jr. said the suspects have voluntarily offered to provide relevant testimonies on the late Negros Oriental Governor Roel R. Degamo’s murder.
“To the remaining suspects at large, we keep repeating our call for you to surrender,” he said in Filipino “You should think about surrendering since many have already done so.”
Mr. Abalos noted that nine of the suspects were ex-military officers while one was a military trainee.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla told the same briefing that authorities will determine the mastermind in the coming days.
“It’s just a matter of time,” he said. “We will identify the mastermind.”
“We’re getting the details out, hopefully by Saturday we will be done questioning the suspects,” he said.
The Justice chief said nine of the 10 suspects in custody directly participated in the March 4 shooting at Mr. Degamo’s residential compound, where eight others, including two village leaders, were killed, while 15 were wounded.
Four suspects were initially arrested, two of whom tagged Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” A. Teves, Jr. as the mastermind behind the governor’s killing.
Mr. Teves has denied the allegation. — John Victor D. Ordoñez