NEGROS Occidental Provincial Police Office spokesperson Police Capt. Judesses Catalogo said that the two suspects from Negros Occidental who were implicated in the slay of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo do not have any previous criminal records.
Catalogo said they have coordinated with law enforcement over the records of Joven Javier and Rickyvelle Luces following their arrests.
Catalogo said the La Castellana Police Station, where Javier resides, came up empty on their check of his records.
However, they did receive word that Javier's parents approached La Castellana town Mayor Rhumylla Nicor-Mangilimutan to ask for assistance.
Silay City police also came back negative for any criminal records for Luces, who was previously a resident of Hacienda Adela in the city's Barangay Lantad.
The only record they were able to get was Luces' previous affiliation with the Philippine Marine Corps.
Despite this, Catalogo said they are digging deeper into the backgrounds of the two suspects.
Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the formation of a joint military and police task force to pursue the remaining 12 suspects in Degamo’s murder.
Of the 17 suspects whom police say are involved in the governor’s killing, four are now in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation, while a fifth, who has yet to be identified, was killed during a manhunt immediately following the killing.*