Brawner: Ex-soldiers will be in Army radar after Degamo slay

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – The Philippine Army will begin keeping a close watch on former soldiers, especially the highly trained ones, to prevent them from turning into hired guns and  criminals in the wake of the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.

Army Chief Lieutenant General Romeo Brawner Jr. said this on Monday, March 6, after Malacañang sounded alarm bells about discharged soldiers using their specialized military skills for criminal activities.

The same day, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that he had directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to identify areas with a high occurrence of local killings and intense political rivalries.

On Saturday, March 4, heavily armed men, who were dishonorably discharged from the Army, barged into an aid distribution activity outside Degamo’s residential compound in Pamplona town, Negros Oriental, and killed him and several others. The gun attack, caught on video, was executed with military precision.

Brawner told Rappler that the problem about ex-soldiers becoming guns-for-hire or getting involved with criminal syndicates was discussed during a meeting in Malacañang on Monday.

As a result, he said, the Army would keep an eye on former soldiers, especially those trained to become snipers, special warfare operatives, and bomb experts, to make sure that they don’t use their special sets of military skills to commit crime.

“We will be closely monitoring our discharged snipers, and scout rangers, too,” he said.

Brawner also said former explosives and ordnance division members may no longer be allowed to leave the country without the Army’s approval.

The announcement came after the arrest of highly trained former soldiers during pursuit operations following the shocking Negros Oriental gun attack.

First to get arrested were former Army sergeant Joric Garrido Labrador, former sergeant Joven Calibjo Javier, and former corporal Benjie Rodriguez, in Barangay Cansumalig, Bayawan City.

Authorities shot and killed one of the suspects during pursuit operations in Bayawan on Saturday evening.

Another suspect, Osmundo Rivero, was arrested on Sunday, March 5. According to reports, Rivero, like the other suspects, was a former Army soldier who became a taxi driver.

Labrador, who was trained as a scout ranger and assigned to the Military Intelligence Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division in Cagayan de Oro before he was terminated in 2014 for alleged substance abuse, was among those arrested.

He was also once detailed by the Army to serve as a bodyguard of Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Representative Rufus Rodriguez.

The congressman earlier told Rappler that he had to let go of Labrador when he was informed that the then soldier was into drugs.

Javier, a member of the elite Light Reaction Battalion trained by the US to fight terrorists, went on AWOL in 2018, while Benjie Rodriguez, a resident of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, was a member of the Jolo-based Army 35th Infantry Battalion. The latter also went AWOL.

The suspects were taken to the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in Dumaguete City on Monday where they are facing charges of multiple murder, frustrated murder, and illegal possession of explosives.

“All three, including Bonifacio, were highly skilled military operators,” noted Brawner.

He said it apparently became tempting for the ex-soldiers to misuse their military skills since they no longer had steady incomes.

To address the issue, Brawner said the Army was considering providing technical education and skills development training for discharged soldiers similar to the program they had for retiring soldiers.

“If possible, we will provide them with companies who are interested in getting them with their new technical skills,” he said. – Rappler.com