Senators on Sunday condemned the killing of Dr. Ricardo Rotoras, president of the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP) on Cagayan de Oro whom they said was a great loss not only to his family, friends, and colleagues but also to the country’s entire higher education sector.
In a statement, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III asked the Philippine National Police (PNP), as well as other law enforcement agencies, to exhaust all efforts to immediately arrest suspected killers and “unmask their mastermind” in what the Senate President described as “dastardly act.”
“I am alarmed and outraged by this latest attack on our law abiding and dedicated public servants. I urge the police to work double time to arrest the killers and unmask the mastermind,” Pimentel said.
“We are a peace-loving society and killings of this nature must be stopped. The police must do its job to protect and secure the people against rouge elements of society,” he added.
According to Pimentel, the Filipino community is seeking speedy justice for the university president, who is described by his colleagues and friends at the USTP as a “workaholic.”
Minority senators Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and Francis Pangilinan also strongly condemned the “senseless killing” of Rotoras.
“We call on authorities to leave no stone unturned to ensure that those behind the killing be brought to justice and punished for their deplorable act,” the senators said in a joint statement.
The two senators said that they worked closely with the slain educator for the passage of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act as president of Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC).
Aquino and Pangilinan both agreed that Rotoras untimely death is a “great loss” to the country’s push for quality education for every Filipino.
Also condemning the killing of Rotoras was Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito who lamented the certainty that Rotoras has been the hardworking president of the association of state universities and colleges.
For his part, Senator Francis Escudero, chair of the Senate committee on education, said that the university president’s efforts to help improve the nation’s higher education system will not be forgotten.
“While I extend my deepest sympathies to the bereaved family as well as to the USTP (University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines) community, I join the academe in mourning the death of Dr. Rotoras, whose efforts to help improve the country’s higher education system will not be forgotten,” he said.
Cayagan de Oro police is looking into Rotoras’ case. Both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) were asked by the city government to help in the investigation.
Police said that unidentified assailants shot the 48-year-old Rotoras just outside his home on Saturday morning. The victim obtained multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to the nearby medical facility. Unfortunately, Rotoras died before they arrived at JR Borja General Hospital.
On Saturday, a witness narrated that he had seen few people who seemed to be casing the subdivision days before the shooting happened.
Meanwhile, another witness said that he saw two men head out of the subdivision and rode a black pickup truck after the incident.