Negros Oriental needs peace and justice

THE March 4 massacre that claimed the lives of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Ragay Degamo and eight other individuals was deeply disturbing. What shocked was not that it happened — Negros Oriental has seen so much carnage, liquidations and other forms of killings in the past six years. What shocked was the excessive violence employed by the attackers. Governor Degamo had long feared for his life, but few observers would probably have thought his demise would be so brutal.

The New People's Army (NPA), though not happy when Governor Degamo years ago started enticing rebels to abandon the armed struggle in exchange for livelihood projects, had no particular reason to murder him. And while the NPA in Guihulngan City was responsible for one of the bloodiest ambushes in recent times when they ambushed on July 21, 2017 the Guihulngan City police and killed six cops and the driver of a city councilor, these were all "legitimate military targets" from the NPA perspective. The NPA takes care to avoid collateral damage: the unintentional killing of ordinary civilians hurts the NPA's image as "the people's army."