In the latest attack on local authorities, a provincial governor and five other people were shot dead by unknown gunmen in the central Philippines on Saturday.

According to local police, Six assailants carrying rifles and dressed in uniforms similar to those worn by the armed forces gained entry into the governor's home in Pamplona town and opened fire, killing Roel Degamo, governor of Negros Oriental province, and five others. 

PHOTO | COURTESY Roel Degamo

"Governor Degamo did not deserve that kind of death. He was serving his constituents on a Saturday," Janice Degamo, also the mayor of Pamplona said in a video posted on Facebook.

President Ferdinand Marcos denounced what he described as the "assassination" of his close associate and warned the offenders that surrendering was the best option for them.

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"My government will not rest until we have brought the perpetrators of this dastardly and heinous crime to justice," Marcos added.

Police said they were looking for ten people, including the six armed men, who fled the scene in two SUVs and a pickup truck before abandoning them in a nearby city.

Degamo, 56, is the latest victim of the Philippines' long history of political assassination. At least the third since last year's local elections. last month, the supreme court declared Demago the winner of the gubernatorial seat after a recount was conducted. to remove his rival, who had previously been declared the winner.

In another attack in February, Mamintal Adiong, governor of the southern province of Lanao del Sur, was shot and wounded in an attack that killed his driver and three police escorts.

The vice-mayor of Aparri's northern town, Rommel Alameda, and five other people travelling with him were killed in a motorway ambush the same month. The leaders of a powerful southern clan and about two dozen followers were sentenced to life in prison for a 2009 ambush on supporters of a gubernatorial election rival in Maguindanao province that left over 58 people dead, including the politician's wife, over 30 journalists and other family members.