EDITORIAL - Another attack against a public official

You must have heard the news by now; Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo was shot and killed yesterday.

Several armed men wearing what was described as Army and Navy uniforms went to Degamo’s house in Barangay Isidro, St. Nuebe, Pamplona, where the governor was entertaining 4Ps beneficiaries then opened fire, hitting Degamo and several others. Aside from Degamo who later died in the hospital, five other people were also killed.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government has condemned the assassination.

“Asahan ninyo na hindi kami titigil hanggang hindi nareresolba ang kasong ito,” DILG Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. said in a statement.

Targeting local officials seems to be more common now; last February 17 Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. and one of his staff were wounded after his convoy was ambushed in Bukidnon. A few days later Aparri Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda and five others were killed in an ambush in Nueva Vizcaya. Then a few days after that Datu Montawal, Maguindanao del Sur, Mayor Ohto Montawal survived an assassination attempt in Pasay City.

We know politics can sometimes get bloody in the Philippines but the frequency of attacks against government officials and people in public office is getting ridiculous.

Attacking an elected official not only shows a certain disrespect for authority, it is also a display of the power of the one who ordered the attack. It’s as if they want to say “we can get away with this and there is nothing you can do about it.” We are sure other government officials are feeling nervous because of these incidents.

When top officials are targeted, the ordinary citizens become uneasy. If some people can get to the top local official, then who can’t they get to?

Aside from the fact that the assailants in this latest incident thought nothing of going after a governor, the fact that they also didn’t care that others got hurt or killed is also concerning.

Who are they? Who hired them? And whose protection were they assured that they would brazenly commit this crime?

Barely a day has passed since the incident and the investigation continues. However, we predict that things will become more interesting in this latest incident.