Hunt for Degamo slay suspects...

PAGE 1 taken concrete steps to issue an international lookout bulletin, to put people on the blue list of the Interpol — the Blue Notice," the PCO quoted Department of Justice (DoJ) spokesman Mico Clavano as saying. A Blue Notice is issued "to collect additional information about a person's identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation." suspects abroad. Cases have been filed against the four gunmen who have been arrested, while 10 more individuals are under investigation, as the DoJ and other law enforcement agencies plug "all the little gaps" in their case buildup. acknowledges their role in “speaking truth to power and holding duty-bearers accountable for excesses and lapses.”

The Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the UN and International Organizations in Geneva participated in the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders held on March 15 as part of the 52nd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council.

The Philippine Mission said the Philippines has a thriving and highly participative democratic space, with over 100,000 registered non-profit organizations, 60,000 of which are engaged in socio-political advocacy work domestically and in the UN. g

It is one of the color-coded notices under international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in Interpol member-countries to share critical crime-related information, and are issued by the agency's General Secretariat at the request of a member country. By issuing a Blue Notice, the government will be able to better monitor the movements of the

Clavano said investigators already have suspects directly involved in the March 4 attack on Degamo, including the driver and lookout, and the purported middleman, all part of the "security layer" built around the mastermind.

Topping the list is Negros Oriental Third District Rep. Arnolfo Teves, a political rival of Degamo who the DoJ strongly believes to be the mastermind.

One case of illegal firearms possession has been filed against Teves, but eight other cases related to the Degamo killing will be filed once he returns to the country, Clavano said. Relatedly, the Department of National Defense, Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police have created a joint task force to go after the remaining suspects in the killing of Degamo, as ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The President previously directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the police to identify "hot spots" in Negros Oriental and clamp down on private armies in the province.

Marcos considers the killing as "purely" political, "that's why we are looking and getting all the best intelligence we can from our people on the ground to tell us where are the places we should be looking at." g