HOT pursuit operations launched by security forces against the gunmen who killed Negros Oriental Governor Roel R. Degamo and eight others in a daring attack inside the public official’s house in Pamplona town left one suspect killed while four others were arrested and are now undergoing thorough questioning, the Philippine National Police (PNP) headed by General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. said on Sunday.

This as President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos Jr. denounced the killing of Gov. Degamo and the other victims and ordered the PNP headed by Azurin to get the killers at all cost and ensure that the ‘mastermind’ is put to jail.

“My government will not rest until we have brought the perpetrators of this dastardly and heinous crime to justice,” the angry Commander-in-Chief said.

On Sunday, Senator Imee Marcos, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin T. Romualdez and Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin ‘Benhur’ C. Abalos Jr. flew to Dumaguete to confer with top security officials and to express their condolences to the Degamo family and the other victims.

The still unidentified suspect was reported to have engaged police commandos in a gunfight in Barangay Cansumalig, Bayawan City, also in Negros Oriental around 9 p.m. Saturday and was killed on the spot, said Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, a spokesperson for the Special Investigation Task Group Degamo.

It was also in the same area where pursuing government troops arrested three suspects in the multiple murder case and recovered their getaway vehicles composed of one Mitsubishi Pajero with plate number NQZ-735, one green Izuzu pick-up with plate number GRY-162 and one black Mitsubishi Montero with plate no. YAP-163.

At least 10 occupants of the three vehicles abandoned the vehicles and fled on foot after being pursued by members of the PNP Special Action Force, the Philippine Army and the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office.

The three captured suspects, two of them discovered to be former Army soldiers who were dismissed from the Armed Forces service after going on AWOL status and for reportedly being involved in drug cases, are still undergoing interrogation and were reported to have provided police probers with relevant information regarding the attack.

Lt. Col. Pelare said they are investigating the possibility that the suspects turned into gun-for-hire activities after being fired from the military force.

Recovered from the suspects were four assault rifles whose records are now being checked by the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office and the PNP Directorate for Logistics.

Gov. Degamo and five others were killed on the spot when the suspects who were wearing military uniforms shot them without any provocation while the official was distributing aid to his poor constituents inside his house in Barangay San Isidro, Pamplona around 9:50 a.m. Saturday.

The death toll rose to nine as of Sunday after three of the wounded victims died while undergoing treatment in a local hospital. Thirteen others were also seriously injured when the gunmen who were armed with automatic rifles sprayed them with bullets without any word.

Four other victims were sent home after hospital treatment. Many of the victims were beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps program

Reports sent to Gen. Azurin said that initial investigation showed that one of the members of Gov. Degamo’s security detail was able to return fire at the gunmen hitting several of them. This was bolstered by findings that one of the recovered getaway vehicles had bloodstains inside.

Police and military troops have sealed off all ports and exit points in the province to make sure that the assassins won’t be able to make good their escape.

ARRESTED SUSPECTS YIELD CACHE OF HIGH-POWERED WEAPONS

The hot pursuit operation on Sunday morning resulted in the arrest of one of the suspects identified as Rickyvelle Espe Liuces in Bgy. Tandayag, Amlan, said PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director, Brigadier Gen. Romeo M. Caramat Jr.

In a report to Gen. Azurin, the PNP-CIDG director said his men, with the support of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Army’s 11th Infantry Battalion, the Naval Intelligence and Security Force and the 61st Special Action Company of the PNP Special Action Force arrested the suspect.

Recovered from the suspect were five Sniper and assault rifles, five M-4 magazines loaded with caliber 5.56 live ammunition, five PMAG magazines with M-16 bullets, 11 fully-loaded M-16 magazines, 25 boxes each containing 20 pieces of 5.56 ammunition and a Toyota Innova with six different plate numbers.

The suspect opted to remain silent after being apprised of his constitutional rights. He is now being questioned at the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office.

The three other suspects identified as Joric Labrador, a 50-year old resident of Cagayan de Oro City; Joven Aber,42, of Bgy. Robles, La Castellana, Negros Oriental; and Benjie Rodriguez,45, a resident of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental were captured by members of the PNP-SAF, the Army and the Bayawan Municipal Police Station in the mountainous area of Sitio Punong in Bgy. Sansumalig in Bayawan City 4:20 p.m. Saturday.

A cal. .45 Springfield semi-automatic pistol, several live ammunition and identification cards were confiscated from the suspects who were brought to the local police station for investigation and forensic procedures.

Gen. Azurin said that during custodial debriefing, the three arrested suspects led them to the location of their weapons which include five units of cal. 5.56 automatic rifles with six loaded magazines, two B40 grenade launchers with five live ammunition, four bandoliers with fully-loaded magazines, one rifle case, two combat uniforms, a grey sweatshirt, three pairs of combat shoes, two cal. .45 magazines with nine live ammunition and two bullet-proof vests.

“The SITG is working on the double with our AFP counterparts to ensure that the remaining suspects will be arrested and justice will be served the soonest possible time,” Gen. Azurin said.

“The swift action of our ground units made possible this early breakthrough in the investigation of Governor Degamo’s murder. The PNP will not stop here, the remaining suspects on the run need to be captured perhaps within the next few hours,” Gen. Azurin said as he led the 227,000-strong police force in condemning the brazen armed attack in Negros Oriental.

“The PNP also extends its deepest condolences to the family of the late Governor Degamo who succumbed while undergoing treatment in a local hospital along with the other victims who were mercilessly gunned down by armed suspects disguised as government troops,” he said.

Gen. Azurin has instructed Police Regional Office 7 director, Brig. Gen. Jerry F. Bearis to supervise the ongoing hot pursuit operation against the killers.

He also convened his top level Command Officers in Camp Crame to strategize and plan the conduct of investigation and pursuit operations.

The top cop personally directed PNP Highway Patrol Group director, Brig. Gen. Clifford B. Gairanod to conduct a verification on the recovered getaway vehicles of the suspects and asked PNP Maritime Group director, Brig. Gen. Romaldo G. Bayting to dispatch all their available sea assets in the area to intercept suspects that may use boats to escape.

Gen. Azurin likewise ordered PNP-SAF director, Brig. Gen. Rudolph B. Dimas to direct his troops to join the hot pursuit and deploy blocking forces in coordination with the AFP and instructed PNP Forensic Group director, Brig. Gen. Constancio T. Chinayog Jr. to strictly oversee the crime scene processing.

He also asked PNP Firearms and Explosives Office director, Colonel Paul Kenneth T. Lucas to immediately conduct a record check on the recovered firearms and told Police Regional Office 6 director, Brig. Gen. Leo M. Francisco to set up checkpoints on their boundaries to help intercept the killers.

The PNP chief has ordered that the entire town of Pamplona be placed on a lockdown with checkpoints established in all ingress and egress points to and from the area. All adjacent Municipal and City Police Stations of Negros Oriental were alerted to possibly intercept the rest of the gunmen.

Gen. Azurin also instructed Area Police Command-Visayas commander, Lieutenant Gen. Patrick T. Villacorte to make available the Regional and Provincial Mobile Forces of Central Visayas including air assets to assist in the hot pursuit operations.

The top cop assured the public that the PNP is on top of the situation and that it will not leave any place in Region 7 unturned until all the perpetrators are in the hands of the authorities and are made to answer in the crimes they have committed.