6 more suspects in Degamo slay undergo inquest

The six remaining suspects in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo on Thursday underwent inquest proceedings before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“‘Yung isa last surrender ‘yun. ‘Yung lima hawak na namin since the other day pero ito last surrenderee na ito,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said in an ambush interview.

According to Remulla, the 10 suspects under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation want to join the Witness Protection Program (WPP).

“Meron tayong arrangement na ginagawa diyan. At least for the protection of their families,” Remulla said in an ambush interview.

“Because they know that they have no other recourse to have their families protected and we’re willing to do that because they’re very important to the case at hand,” he added.

The Justice Secretary said the suspects will be interviewed by the WPP on Friday for the protection of their families.

“For them itself, it’s very hard to know if they will be under witness protection later because we cannot discharge anybody as a state witness at this point in time because we’re still getting the whole story straight,” Remulla said.

LOOK: The remaining suspects in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo arrive at the DOJ for inquest proceedings @gmanews @gmanewsbreaking pic.twitter.com/cqRT8dnBpg

— Joahna Lei Casilao (@joahnacasilao) March 23, 2023

Degamo and eight others were killed while several others were injured after an attack at the governor’s home on March 4.

Authorities said one suspect surrendered on Friday last week while four others, described to be “major players” in the killing, later surrendered to the military.

Remulla said that of the 10 suspects in the killing, nine participated directly in the assassination of the governor.

He said authorities are still looking into five to six “direct conspirators.”—LDF, GMA Integrated News