Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla announced on Friday that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had apprehended a suspected orchestrator in the murder of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.
According to Remulla, the case is now 99% resolved.
“The NBI was able to catch a main player, a main player. A name we have not discussed, we have never discussed here. But practically, I would say in my reading of the situation one of the masterminds was caught today,” Remulla said.
Remulla declined to provide additional information about the mastermind and emphasized that more details would be revealed on Monday.
“I’m just telling you that there’s a breakthrough, it’s 99% solved. The Degamo case is 99% solved,” Remulla said.
According to the Justice Secretary, this was the person authorities had been searching for since the beginning of the investigation, as he was mentioned in the statements of other suspects already in custody.
NBI arrests ‘mastermind’ of Degamo slay
“We wanted him from Day One to be part of it, to be among the suspects to be caught and we were able to focus on that. And I congratulate the NBI for a job well done,” Remulla said.
“He figures in the statements made by the other suspects in custody already. It drives a thread through everything. The thread has been properly moving in,” he added.
Remulla stated that the suspect fled Negros Oriental.
“Tumakas na siya. Malayo na siya sa Negros Oriental and for the last three weeks we were on his trail already. Everyday tinatanong ko, anong balita, anong balita, and finally, today,” he said.
Remulla mentioned that the suspect did not offer resistance during the arrest and was informed of their rights. Additionally, Remulla emphasized the need for authorities to determine if any other masterminds were involved.
“That’s why we’re not leaping to any conclusions now. But we know that we have caught the right people already, the people that have to be caught, that we were wishing would get caught, or the person that we wanted to get caught,” Remulla said.
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