DURING the public hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs on Monday morning (April 17), Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. strongly condemned the direct involvement of former members of uniformed personnel in the brutal assassination of the late Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo last March.
“Hindi na dapat maulit pa ang katulad sa nangyaring kalunos-lunos na pagpaslang kay Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo. Ito ay tunay ngang sagad hanggang buto ang kasamaan. Lalo pa at nakikita natin ngayon na ang mga sangkot dito ay mismong mga may kaugnayan sa pamahalaan, the solon declared.
Revilla deplored that the assailants were former soldiers who were dishonorably discharged from military service and expressed dismay since it was government funds that were used to train the soldiers in order to protect the people, only for them to incite political violence otherwise.
“Government spent resources to train these people to protect the country and our kababayans, but instead, they used these specialized skills to inflict harm and terror”, he said.
Revilla also stated that the murder is not only a politically motivated act of violence but a direct attack to democracy as it created fear and havoc among the people.
“Ang kalapastangang ito ay kahindik-hindik, kasuklam-suklam at kamuhi-muhi. No matter which way we look at it, we cannot reduce this into a mere political rivalry. It is no less than an affront to our democracy.”
He stressed that cruelty and lawlessness has no place in a society especially those caused by perpetrators who think they are untouchable.
“The blind belief of those who perpetrated this heinous crime that they are untouchable ends today. Habang humahaba ang inyong sungay, patatalimin naman namin ang ngipin ng batas upang hindi kayo makatakas. After all, regardless of your audacity, one thing still remains constant – the rule of law will always prevail in our country”, Revilla ended.