Philippine governor and five others killed in gun attack

• The province has a history of bloody political feuds.
• Roel Degamo and five other people in front of his home in Pamplona town.
• President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the attack and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Gunmen in military uniforms fatally shot a governor and five civilians on Saturday while the provincial leader was meeting villagers at his home in the central Philippines, police said, in the country’s latest brazen assault on local politicians.

At least six men armed with assault rifles and dressed in military-style camouflage and bullet-proof vests jumped out of three SUVs and opened fire on Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and at least five other people in front of his home in Pamplona town. The province has a history of bloody political feuds.

Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, the governor’s wife, said in a Facebook video that the five villagers were also killed.

She demanded justice and said her husband “did not deserve that kind of death. He was serving constituents on a Saturday along with his department heads.”

According to police, ten suspects fled the scene and later abandoned the SUVs. Police set up security checkpoints and searched the province for the suspects.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the mid-morning attack, which occurred as poor villagers gathered in front of Degamo’s house to seek medical and other assistance.

“My government will not rest until we have brought the perpetrators of this dastardly and heinous crime to justice,” Marcos said in a statement.

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