Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and five other people were killed Saturday, March 4, and a still undetermined number of people were injured, five to include three department heads of the Province, after they were attacked by fully armed men during the governor’s regular service caravan in his home in Pamplona, some 42 kilometers north of here.
Mayor Janice Degamo of Pamplona, the wife of Governor Degamo, confirmed that her husband died at the hospital while being treated for gunshot wounds at 11:40 a.m. and asked the national government for justice.
Dauin Mayor Galic Truita in an interview with reporters, said Degamo died of a gunshot wound on the right side of his body and hit his heart. He said the gunmen arrived in one van.
CCTV footage shared from the crime scene showed five gunmen, dressed in military uniforms and with high-powered firearms, entering the compound and surveyed the crowd, as if looking for the Governor.

Then, the gunmen opened fire simultaneously at several targets. A witness said one targeted the guards, some shot at the crowd and one went after the Governor, which was also shown in the viral footage.
The gunmen were also shown in the video withdrawing from the scene in a coordinated manner with military-like precision.
“I heard the explosions and thought there were fireworks and then everyone hit the ground,” said a capitol employee.
The names of the other fatalities were not immediately available, except for videographer Michael Fabugais. Among those who sustained injuries were Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council head Marlo Quilnet and Provincial Social Welfare Officer Rosa Banquerigo. Provincial Engineer Maelene Jimenez, who was beside the governor at that time, was unhurt.
The governor had been taking extra security precautions and would go around in a bulletproof vehicle. One time we went to Guihulngan, we passed by Negros Occidental so we would not take the same route coming home, a close-in companion of Degamo said.
Siaton Mayor Fritz Diaz also said the Governor even called his attention for not riding a bulletproof car one time. “The governor told me that these are dangerous times and we should be careful at all times,” Diaz said.
Diaz said Degamo’s killing was surely politically motivated. “I don’t have to say it but we all know the motive. We can even determine the motive with our eyes closed,” he said.
Degamo was on his fourth term as Governor, which he won in the 2021 elections in a closely-fought electoral battle. Degamo initially lost to candidate Pryde Henry Teves but the Comelec declared Degamo the winner after invalidating the candidacy of a nuisance bet, Ruel Degamo, and adding his votes to Roel Degamo’s votes. The Supreme Court, in a decision released last February 14, confirmed Degamo’s electoral victory.
The Governor was rushed to Negros Polymedic Hospital in the town of Sibulan, about 42 kilometers south of Pamplona. The other victims were taken to the SU Medical Center here in the City, about four kilometers farther south.
In the same video posted on Facebook, Dauin Mayor Galicano Truita said what happened to Negros Oriental was “really not good”, he said,
“We, the supporters of Governor Degamo just appeal for continued prayers for violence like this to stop.”
Vice Gov. Guido Reyes, who is supposed to take over the position of Gov. Degamo, is also on medical leave, and had just come back from treatment in Manila. *