MAJOR Cenon Pancito III, spokesperson of Joint Task Force-Negros, said they now have a theory that the leader of the assassination team that killed Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo and eight others is also a former soldier.
Pancito said the attack was well-funded, and even has its own support system.
Although several high-profile names have already been floated by the four captured suspects, Pancito said they are still gathering further evidence to identify the mastermind.
Aside from the leader of the assassination team, evidence further suggested that the others who have yet to be captured are also ex-military.
Pancito said the remaining suspects are believed to be around four and it is critical that they be captured alive as they could give further evidence against the mastermind.
Degamo and eight others were killed after armed men stormed the governor’s residential compound in Pamplona town on March 4.
Meanwhile, the military's Visayas Command (Viscom) on Monday, March 13, said soldiers deployed over the weekend to Negros Oriental province will assist the Philippine National Police and will not leave the province until peace and order are restored following the murder of Degamo.
Lt. General Benedict Arevalo, Viscom chief, said the presence of uniformed military personnel in the second and third districts of the province is also aimed at restoring the confidence of the people to the rule of law and encourage witnesses to come forward to shed light on the murder of Degamo and eight other victims.
Arevalo said the presence of the Army and the police also seeks to give confidence to other witnesses to surface and provide information in numerous unsolved killings in the province.
Arevalo said the troops will closely work with the police "to step up the joint law enforcement efforts in order to capture the remaining suspects of the violent attack." (with reports from PNA)