A Private Armed Group (PAG) responsible for the series of killings in Negros Oriental has been neutralized following the death of a key member, a police official said Tuesday.
In a press briefing, Col. Ronan Claravall, acting police provincial director, said the death of alleged hired gun Alex Mayagma on Monday will lead to the eventual downfall of the group.
“Mayagma is a PAG member operating in Negros Oriental. There are still members, but they are already crippled due to previous arrests as a result of intensified operations,” Claravall told reporters in a briefing held at the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office headquarters in Sibulan town.
Mayagma, tagged as the topmost wanted person in the Central Visayas region, was shot dead in Barangay Malabugas, Bayawan City after he allegedly pulled out a gun, and engaged cops into a scuffle.
“Mayagma was under close surveillance for more than a month now and is wanted by the law for his participation in several killings in Negros Oriental,” said Colonel Claravall, acting police provincial director.
Claravall said police investigators are also still looking into his possible links with the suspects in the assassination of Gov. Roel Degamo on March 4 in Pamplona town.
He declined to elaborate further.
Investigation showed that at around 10:55 a.m., police and military operatives saw Mayagma in Barangay Malabugas, and was about to serve the warrants when he allegedly pulled out his gun, and pointed it at one officer.
The law enforcers disarmed him in a scuffle but Mayagma allegedly pulled out a second gun, which prompted the operatives to shoot him.
His body was brought to the Bayawan District Hospital where he was pronounced dead by an attending physician.
Mayagma’s name surfaced during the Senate hearings that investigated the murder of Degamo, and other killings in Negros Oriental.
Lt. Col. Stephen Polinar, NOPPO information officer, said records show Mayagma was facing charges related to the killing of Board Member Miguel Dungog in 2019, Lester Bato in 2019, Randy Rabin in 2021, Juvim Esteñoso in 2022, Ramon Jalbuna in 2022, and Winchita Laag this year.
The status of the cases were not immediately known, Polinar said. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
