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Reynaldo “Butch" Tepace hid in a canal during the massacre*As part of his regular schedule, Reynaldo “Butch" Tepace, a cameraman for Fil Products Service Television, would meet with Gov. Roel Degamo every Saturday in the town of Pamplona for their recording of The Provincial Report.Saturday, March 4 was one such day. Arriving at the governor’s place in sitio Nuebe, barangay San Isidro in Pamplona, Tepace saw the usual crowd that would flock to the compound, usually to seek assistance or advice.He parked his motorcycle across the street, some 15 meters away from the compound gate. While waiting for his reporter, who was following in another vehicle, Tepace lit a cigarette and enjoyed watching the fog that surrounded the governor’s home which, he said, added to the beautiful scen...

Pamplona Mayor Janice Vallega-Degamo says her husband had received several threats.*“Malapit na ang araw mo (your days are numbered). You will have to answer for what you did to the governor, and a lot more.”This was the message of Pamplona Mayor Janice Vallega-Degamo to her husband’s killers after charges were filed before the City Prosecutor against the four captured suspects Monday, March 6.Gov. Roel Degamo and 8 others were killed and 17 others were injured in a massacre in Pamplona, Negros Oriental, on Saturday.Mayor Degamo said the capture of the four suspects, and the subsequent filing of charges against them, has given them a renewed sense of hope. “This means there is a chance that we will know the mastermind, and know the real motive of the killing,” she said....

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday, March 6, that he is not beefing up his security personnel following the massacre of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and eight others.“As long as you're aware of the situation in the province and in the areas that you go to, I will always be guided by that," he said.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the Department of the Interior and Local Government is set to review the security details of elected officials.Benitez said he was meeting with Col. Thomas Joseph Martir, Bacolod police director, for an update on the unresolved killings in Bacolod.He said they should be resolved so perpetrators know that they cannot get away with the killings, he said.The Police Regional Office 7 has placed all elec...

The transport group members at the San Sebastian Cathedral Monday.*There were no Bacolod residents who were stranded on Monday, March 6, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said.Benitez thanked the public transportation groups in Bacolod for not joining the nationwide strike, and assured them that he will continue to assist them in complying with the requirements of the public transport modernization program to enable them to continue to operate.The Bacolod Modernized Transport Group, Sentrong Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Negros, Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Association and the United Negros Drivers Operators Center did not join the strike.The Bacolod transport groups instead held a prayer rally at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod, and only a small grou...

The MABB Cab launching* City PIO photoBacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez launched a ride-hailing system on Monday, March 6, that will serve the needs of city government employees on official business.An initial 20 vehicles will form part of the MABB (Mayor Albee B. Benitez) Cab, which has a smartphone app that will allow city government employees to book rides.“We have pooled the vehicles of the different offices for this program. Employees must not think that their office service vehicle has been taken away. It’s the opposite, what will happen is you will have additional vehicles. All those who have official business will be provided with vehicles,” he said at the launching that was held after the flag ceremony at the Bacolod City Government Center grounds.The MABB Cab...

The Philippine flag in front of the Negros Occidental Capitol flies at half mast for Gov. Roel Degamo.*The flags in front of the Negros Occidental Capitol in Bacolod City and other provincial government facilities were flying at half-mast for slain Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo starting Monday, March 6.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said “we lost a friend in Gov. Degamo, he may have had his misgivings about the NIR (Negros Island Region) but I was confident that at the end of the day he would not object to the creation of a new region”.Lacson said he will discuss the NIR with the Carlo Jorge Joan Reyes, the new governor of Negros Oriental, after Degamo is laid to rest.“Let’s join the family of Gov. Degamo in mourning, and all wish that justice will indeed be ...

The fourth suspect in the Pamplona massacre being brought to the Provincial Prosecutor's Office for inquest on Monday.*Photo courtesy of Judy Flores PartlowThe Philippine National Police filed multiple charges on Monday, March 6, against the suspects in the massacre of Gov. Roel Degamo and eight others in Pamplona, Negros Oriental, and announced that they have leads on the mastermind."The continuing investigation…has uncovered promising leads from evidence and testimonies that will establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and the identification of key players in this multiple murder case," PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said in a press briefing at Camp Crame.Charges for multiple murder, frustrated murder and for illegal possession of firearms and explosives were ...

Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. (Neg. Or., 3rd District) delivering his message on the death of Degamo in a video posted on his Facebook page.*Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. (Neg. Or., 3rd District) on Monday, March 6, denied involvement in the murder of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and eight others in what is now being called the Pamplona massacre.Heavily armed men barged into the compound of Degamo in Pamplona, Negros Oriental, on Saturday and killed the governor and eight others.Teves, who is in the United States for stem cell treatment, posted his video message on his social media account.He extended his condolences to the “bereaved families”, saying that having lost a son and a cousin, he knows the pain of losing a loved one.Teves and Degamo were political r...

Murcia Vice Mayor Johnny Reosura and Mayor Gerry M. Rojas, Hokota City Mayor Kazuo Kishida, Rep. Francisco Benitez, and Vice Mayor Shigeki Igawa (l-r) discussed the arrangements for the training of agriculture technical interns.*In collaboration with Tricastle International and its Japanese and Chinese partners, the Municipality of Murcia in Negros Occidental is working for the deployment of Murciahanon agricultural and hotel services trainees to Japan.“Our initial trip to Namegata City in Ibaraki Prefecture last July 2022 to send agricultural trainees to Japan has borne fruit. In our trip last February 20 to 24 with 3rd District Rep. Francisco ‘Kiko’ Benitez and Tricasle co-founder Vice Mayor Johnny Reosura, we have finalized the arrangements for the signing of the Memorandum of A...