MONITORING. Negros Oriental acting police provincial director Col. Alex Recinto (left) on Tuesday (June 27, 2023) prepares his security briefing during a coordinating conference on the deferment of the Barangay and SK elections at the PNP Regional Office in Sibulan town. Recinto confirmed the presence of a private armed group in the province. (PNA photo by Judy Flores Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY – The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Negros Oriental is keeping a close eye on an alleged private armed group (PAG) in the province as law enforcement authorities step up security for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).
Acting police provincial director Col. Alex Recinto told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday that the supposed private armed group is still active despite the arrest of its purported leader earlier this year.
“Although this group has already been neutralized following the arrest of their leader and some members, there are still others who are at large and are (being) monitored as they can be a potential threat to the elections,” Recinto said.
This potential armed group is being linked to Governor Roel Degamo's assassination last March 4 in Pamplona, where nine others were killed and 16 more injured.
Recinto declined to elaborate on the private armed group for security reasons but confirmed that the purported leader was one of the suspects in the Pamplona massacre.
The presence of a private armed group in Negros Oriental was disclosed by both the military and the police during a coordinating conference conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), headed by Chairman George Erwin Garcia, at the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office on Tuesday.
The presence of an alleged PAG in Negros Oriental came as a surprise to many as there were no previous pronouncements about their existence last year and in previous years.
Recinto said this group was considered PAG only after the Pamplona mass shooting.
The Comelec and other government agencies hold a three-day public hearing across Negros Oriental from July 27-29 on the proposed deferment of the BSKE in the province. (PNA)
