Degamo slay suspect served as Cagayan de Oro lawmaker’s bodyguard

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Representative Rufus Rodriguez has confirmed that one of the suspects in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo once served as his security aide.

Rodriguez said on Sunday, March 5, that he let go of the suspect, former Army sergeant Joric Garrido Labrador, in 2014 after he found out from officials of the 4th Infantry Division that the soldier was into drugs.

“I immediately terminated his services because I don’t like working with people addicted to drugs,” Rodriguez said.

He said Labrador used to be with the Military Intelligence Battalion at the Army’s 4th Infantry Division camp in Cagayan de Oro.

Labrador and another soldier had been detailed as Rodriguez’s bodyguards, and the suspect served the congressman for four years.

When the 4th ID informed him that Labrador was dismissed from the military service, Rodriguez said he followed suit.

“I am saddened that Labrador was not able to break from his shabu addiction. He was a good security aide until drugs caught up with him,” Rodriguez said.

Police arrested Labrador and two other Army soldiers – all of them highly trained – in Barangay Cansumalig, Bayawan City following the attack on Governor Degamo.

The other suspects were also former Army soldiers. One was identified as former sergeant Joven Calibjo Javier, a member of the elite Light Reaction Battalion who went AWOL in 2018. 

Another is former corporal Benjie Rodriguez of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, who used to be a member of the Jolo-based 35th Infantry Battalion. Like Javier, ex-corporal Rodriguez had  also gone AWOL.

The military said all of the three had undergone Special Forces and Close Quarter Battle (CQB) trainings.

Police seized from them seven M16 rifles, two B40 rocket propelled grenade (RPG) with five ammunition, six Kevlar vests, one rifle case, three pairs of boots, two military uniforms and a gray sweatshirt.

Gunmen fired at Degamo while he was distributing food assistance at his home in Pamplona, Negros Oriental on Saturday, March 4, killing him and several others.

The killing of Degamo came barely a month after gunmen attacked the convoy of Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr., wounding him and killing four of his bodyguards near the borders of his province and Bukidnon. – Rappler.com