PNP looking inept under Azurin; spate of violent attacks hit local execs

PHILIPPINE National Police director general, P/Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., the first to be appointed by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. to lead the national police under his administration, would be retiring next month with the image of the PNP badly shaken while also putting the public’s trust on the President’s decision-making in the appointment of officials to run crucial government agencies under a cloud of doubt.

This, after still unknown assailants in “full battle gears” attack and killed Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and 5 others in front of his own house on Saturday, March 4, 2023, in Bgy. San Isidro, Pamplona town.

In a social media post, Degamos’ wife, Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo said her husband was pronounced dead at 11:41 am, some two hours after being rushed to the Siliman University Medical Center in Dumaguete City for treatment from multiple gunshot wounds.

“The governor does not deserve that kind of death,” his distraught wife said. “There were five others who died with him. They were there to ask for help,” she added.

It was learned that Degamo was entertaining 4P beneficiaries when the gunmen arrived and started shooting. The dead did not include several others who were also wounded.

Degamo sustained multiple gunshot wounds in different parts of his body that caused his death, according to Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).

“Governor Degamo was entertaining 4Ps beneficiaries at the entrance of his residence when suddenly a group of persons wearing pixelized uniform and in full battle gear shot the Governor several times hitting the latter and some civilians,” Pelare, said.

He added the local police headed by P/Colonel Reynaldo Lizardo, director of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office, are “conducting a hot pursuit” to arrest the perpetrators as of this writing.

While the motive behind the killing of Degamo is yet to be established, it came some two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that he was the legitimately elected governor of the province.

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) decided to overturn the result of the May 2022 gubernatorial race showing Degamo’s rival, Pryde Henry Teves, as the winner.

While Degamo lost the counting to Teves, the Comelec eventually declared him the winner after the votes of ‘nuisance candidate’ “Ruel Degamo,” was nullified in his favor. Degamo took the post of governor in October 2022 after Teves vowed down to the order from the poll body and his ascendancy was affirmed with the SC ruling.

The killing of Degamo was just part of a series embarrassment for the PNP under Azurin involving the brazen violent attacks against elected local government officials in a span of just two weeks.

Last February 22, 2023, Mayor Ohto Montawal of Datu Montawal town, Maguindanao, was wounded in an ambush staged by yet to be arrested gunmen in Pasay City.

Three days earlier, February 19, Aparri, Cagayan Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda and 5 of his companions were killed in an ambush in Bagabag, Nueva Viscaya.

And two days before this, on February 17, Lanao del Sur Governor Maminal Alonto Adiong Jr., miraculously survived an ambush in Kalilangan, Bukidnon but resulted to the death of his 4 security escorts.

Expression of dismay with the PNP

In a statement also on Saturday, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri expressed the collective dismay of the chamber of the “culture of impunity” that remains pervasive, especially with the PNP appearing incompetent to address violent crimes by the day.

“I strongly condemn this dastardly act of violence. This is especially alarming, coming so soon after the ambush of Gov. Mamintal Adiong, not to mention the recent ambush on Mayor Ohto Montawal of Maguindanao del Sur, and the killing of Vice Mayor Rommel Almeda in Cagayan,” Zubiri said.

“Heads must roll, and the PNP must crack down on this case immediately.

“I also must call on the PNP to strengthen its efforts against the culture of impunity that seems to be encouraging more and more of these attacks to happen across the country.

“We cannot keep on letting these go on, especially when it puts innocent civilians in the crossfire,” the Senate leader added.

For his part, Arsenio ‘Boy’ Evangelista, president of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), said the police’s usual excuse of branding every violent crime as an “isolated case” is part of the problem.

Guesting at the regular ‘Report to the Nation’ media forum of the National Press Club (NPC) on March 3, a day before the murder of Degamo, Evangelista stressed that the PNP’s penchant excuse of dismissing violent crimes as an “isolated case” does not encourage public’s trust.

“These incidents are not isolated. It is happening all over the country,” Evangelista said, referencing the earlier violent attacks against Montawal, Adiong and Alameda.

“What the PNP should be doing is to ‘calm’ the citizens…kapag sinabi ninyo (PNP) na ‘isolated’ (incident) parang nasa defensive (agad) kayo.”

What is needed, he added, is the “acceptance of an existing problem. ‘Pag hindi mo tinatanggap na may problema, I think you are part of the problem also,” Evangelista added.

Appointed last August 1, 2022, Azurin is to retire from the PNP by April 24, 2023, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.