MANILA (AP) – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said yesterday that he ordered police to crackdown on illegal firearms and private armies and described as “terrifying” the weekend shootings that killed a provincial governor and eight others in a crowd.
The attack on Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo at his home on Saturday by at least six men armed with assault rifles and wearing military camouflage and bullet-resistant vests was the deadliest on politicians in recent weeks.
It was also the most alarming gun attack under Marcos, who said he was shocked when he saw footage of the gunmen walking into Degamo’s residential compound then opening fire on just anybody in front of them, even those “who were not involved in their conflict.”
“This one is particularly terrifying and it’s really… I don’t know. This does not belong in the society,” Marcos said in a news conference when asked about the worst killings since he took office in June last year. Degamo’s killing “is entirely unacceptable and it will not stand. This cannot go unpunished.”
At least 17 others, including a doctor and two army soldiers, were wounded in the attack, police said.
