Remulla claims Degamo slay ‘99% solved,’ says Teves in midst of it all
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested an alleged mastermind in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Friday.
“The NBI was able to catch a main player, a main player. A name we have not discussed, we have never discussed here. But practically, I would say in my reading of the situation one of the masterminds was caught today,” Remulla told reporters.
Remulla would not release the name of the suspect, however, but said the case is “99 percent solved.”
“I’m just telling you that there’s a breakthrough, it’s 99 percent solved. The Degamo case is 99 percent solved,” Remulla said.
He congratulated the NBI for a job well done.
“He figures in the statements made by the other suspects in custody…
It drives a thread through everything,” Remulla said of the alleged mastermind.
He said the suspect fled Negros Oriental, and that for three weeks, the authorities were on his trail.
He did not resist arrest and was read his rights, Remulla added.
Remulla again insisted that suspended Negros Oriental Rep. ArnolfoTeves Jr. was part of the group that planned Degamo’s killing, saying he was “in the middle of everything.”
Degamo and eight others were killed while several others were injured after gunmen—most of them ex-military—opened fire on them at the governor’s home in Negros Oriental on March 4.
Teves was linked to the killings after suspects in custody said acertain “Cong. Teves” ordered the hit.
The lawmaker has refused to return to the country to face chargesfiled against him for three 2019 murders, saying he feared for his life.
The House of Representatives has suspended him for 60 days.
Teves’s brother, former governor Pryde Henry Teves, told ABS-CBN hewas exasperated with his older brother for refusing to come home, even though their father was sick and in hospital since Dec. 8.
“I asked him, can you forgive yourself that you’ve never been able to see him before he goes?’” Pryde Henry said.
“That doesn’t seem right. So, I told him, you ponder and meditate upon that and you make the right decision,” he added.
“I’m exasperated. I’ve done enough and I have suffered enough,” hesaid in a mix of English and Filipino. “I’m done with this. I’m tired of reaching out to him.”
The former governor, however, refused to comment on the firearms found in a sugar mill he reportedly owns.
Police conducting raids on the former governor’s compound said they collected items allegedly used by Degamo’s killers.
The Joint Task Force Negros reported on Thursday evening that agentsof the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) found identification cards and burned clothes.
On top of the charred items, accessories such as a silencer, riflecleaning equipment, caliber .45 cartridges, soldering iron, a flash drive, a Swiss knife, and a tucker used for target papers.
PNP-CIDG officers have been implementing a search warrant on the 50-hectare sugar mill since March 24.
Assorted firearms, ammunition, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs)were confiscated in the week-long search operations, while P18 million worth of cash collected by the authorities was returned to the mill.
Three individuals were arrested in the raids including the alleged head of security, Nigel Electrona.
