Cynthia Villar mourns death of ‘true friend’ Degamo: We discussed ‘danger’ in his life

FILE PHOTO: Senator Cynthia Villar during a forum in Manila on January 25, 2023. | INQUIRER.net

MANILA,  Philippines— Senator Cynthia Villar on Monday revealed discussing with slain Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo the “danger” in his life and the problem with his police security years ago.

According to her, Degamo was a “true friend” of her family and a stalwart of the Nacionalista Party founded by her husband, former Senator Manny Villar.

“We had discussed the danger in his life and it finally came about,” she said on the Senate floor when she co-sponsored “with a heavy heart” a resolution expressing the Senate’s profound sympathy and sincere condolences on the death of the governor.

“I even asked the help of a fellow senator with his problem, when he was having a problem with his police security years ago,” she also said.

Degamo and eight others were shot dead by armed men while the governor distributed aid to his constituents inside his house in Barangay Isidro, Pamplona town last March 4.

The lady senator said the killing of Degamo and eight people is “senseless and despicable and has no place in a civilized and democratic society.”

Senator Cynthia Villar also called on law enforcement agencies to act with dispatch and fast-track the investigation to truthfully identify and catch the killers as well as the masterminds so they would be held accountable.

READ: Degamo slay suspect killed; another nabbed

Senator Pia Cayetano, meanwhile, recalled having “numerous discussions and coffee dates” with the governor when she visited his province.

She remembered Degamo as a straightforward man and well-respected by his constituents.

READ: 5th suspect in murder of Negros Oriental governor nabbed

“And I am grateful that, in my own way, I have been enriched. My life has been enriched to know somebody like him. But it also brings me a lot of sadness that this person will no longer walk with us on this earth, walk with us in our country,” Cayetano said.

“And to continue to be able to share all the good things that he has done, that is now in our hands, that there would be more public servants like him and that we who have known him can continue to support his legacy now that he is no longer with us,” she added.

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