DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — Governor Roel Degamo said he will have Senior Superintendent Raul Tacaca, acting director of the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NORPPO) replaced if the killings in Guihulngan City do not stop and remain unsolved.
In his speech in Bacong town earlier this week, Degamo said the spate of killings in Guihulngan has taken its toll to Guihulngan City’s economy.
For this same reason, Degamo also put on hold Tacaca’s appointment as the full-pledged director of NORPPO. He said the Police Regional Office-7 has given him a list of names to choose from for a possible replacement for Tacaca, but he added that the latter must assure him first that the peace and order problem in Guihulngan will be addressed.
“I am really determined to solve that issue, kay halos kada semana naa nay (pagpamusil), and it will damage the economy of that area. Laliman kag (4:00 p.m.) manirado na ang mga tindahan, so what will happen to the economy?” Degamo told reporters.
“Wa na may pili (ang mga kriminal) karon. Kapitan, taga-City Hall, bisag kinsa na lang,” Degamo said, referring to the deaths of Barangay Nagsaha Chairman Virgilio Masicampo Jr. on Friday and Councilor Paulo Edison dela Rita Sr. on April 2.
Just a day after his pronouncements on Tacaca’s status, two men were killed in separate shooting incidents at Barangays Nagsaha and McKinley in Guihulngan City.
A 42-year-old farmer identified as Bartolome Soreño was shot dead Tuesday morning by unidentified gunmen believed to be members of the New People’s Army (NPA), while he was feeding his chickens outside his home at Barangay Nagsaha.
Superintendent Mario Baquiran Jr., Guihulngan Police chief, said land issues may have been among the NPA’s motives to kill the victim. Soreño’s family claimed that he was a tenant of a land owned by Masicampo.
Another still unidentified man was killed by motorcycle-riding suspects Tuesday evening at Barangay McKinley. The police have not yet determined who the victim was because he had no IDs with him and no one has come forward to file a missing person report.
Baquiran said because of the series of killings in Guihulngan, the police called an emergency meeting with the City Council this week.
Guihulngan’s City Council is expected to pass a resolution requesting the Philippine Army to redeploy more troops to the city to help both the local police and the 94th Infantry Battalion in maintaining peace and order there, Baquiran added.
For his part, Tacaca told The FREEMAN over the phone that he respects Degamo’s decision, as the powers of the governor include appointing and naming the chief of the provincial police.
“Wala naman pong problema ‘yon. Siya naman talaga ang executive sa province, nasa power po niya talaga ‘yon kung mag-a-appoint ng mga (police official). Part po ‘yun ng trabaho niya,” he said.