Mayor Janice Degamo head for victory as Negros Oriental rep

Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo

DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, Philippines — Mayor Janice Degamo of Pamplona town, Negros Oriental, is heading for victory as representative of the province’s third district.

Based on the partial count of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Degamo has secured 120,411 votes with 72 percent of the votes counted as of midnight, hours after polling precincts closed on Monday.

Her opponent, Janice Teves, got 64,398 votes.

Janice’s husband Roel, who was Negros Oriental governor, was murdered by assailants while attending to the needs of his constituents inside his residential compound in Pamplona on March 4, 2023.

READ: Comelec: Janice Degamo remains a candidate despite DQ case

Nine other persons were also killed during the attack.

Eleven suspects were arrested and earlier linked expelled Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves to the massacre.

However, many suspects recanted their confessions after they were provided with lawyers.

This did not stop the prosecutors from filing cases against Teves in court.

Teves, who repeatedly denied the accusations, was eventually removed from the House of Representatives and went into hiding after he became the subject of an arrest warrant issued by a Manila Regional Trial Court.

He was eventually arrested while playing golf in Timor-Leste on March 21, 2024.