Degamo widow says she hitched ride on Air Force plane to attend Senate probe

MANILA – Pamplona, Negros Oriental Mayor Janice Degamo on Wednesday explained how she was able to ride a C-130 aircraft of the Philippine Air Force in order to physically attend the Senate Committee on Public Order’s hearing on the assassination of her husband, Gov. Roel Degamo.

“Naki-hitch lang kami (We just hitched a ride), that flight was not totally for us,” she told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

She said she and the relatives of other victims of killings in Negros Oriental found ways to get to Manila when they learned that they were invited to the Senate.

“In fact, siksikan talaga doon, nandoon yung mga, (Presidential Security Group) ata, marami pa rin, parang halos kasing dami namin or more than yung dami nila. So naki-hitch lang po,” she said.

(We were crowded in the plane, the Presidential Security Group was there too, I think. There were more of them than of us, I think. We just hitched a ride.)

Degamo’s comments come after Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves, Jr., who has been implicated in the governor’s killing on March 4, questioned why she was able to ride a government-owned plane.

Teves, who is reportedly outside the country, was supposed to attend the Senate hearing virtually, but was unanimously barred by senators from doing so.

• Rep. Teves barred from attending Senate probe virtually

But if he is allowed, Teves should be sworn in at the Philippine embassy or consulate in the country where he is staying, two senators said. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Teves has yet to return to the country, more than a month since his travel clearance expired. 

• Cong. Teves may be designated or proscribed as terrorist, says Remulla

He was slapped with a 60-day suspension at the House of Representatives over his continued absence in Congress.

• Degamo widow urges Rep. Teves: Physically attend Senate probe for fairness' sake

Mayor Degamo said that as a taxpayer, she also had the right to ride a government airplane.

“What’s wrong ba, with riding in a vehicle owned by the Philippine government when we are also taxpayers? Ang laki ng tax ko (I pay ahuge tax),” she said.

“Kung humingi din siya ng permiso na sumakay din sa C-130, eh di nagkita sana kami doon kasi taxpayer din siya,” she said of Teves.

(If he asked for a permission to ride the C-130, we would have met, because he's also a taxpayer.)

--TeleRadyo, 19 April 2023