DOJ: Massacre witness in custody

MANILA, Philippines - Police Inspector Rex Diongon, a vital witness in the Maguindanao massacre, is still in government custody, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said yesterday.

“We have checked and learned that he is in good hands, but beyond that I cannot give further details,” she said.

Devanadera refused to say where Diongon is being held and which law enforcement agency has him in custody.

Senior Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police director, said he received information from Diongon’s father yesterday that the police officer is now in the custody of the Department of Justice.

Diongon has not escaped but has simply gone AWOL (absent without official leave), he added.

Latag said Diongon was not under arrest, but he was required to report to an officer inside Camp Crame on a regular basis.

The other policemen who were earlier reported as missing remain in custody in Camp Crame, he added.

They are: Inspector Michael Joy Macaraeg, Police Officers 1 Musa Abad, Jonathan Engid, Joharto Kaminda, Zoharto Samson, Abdul Macatimbol and Abbey Guidem.

Ampatuan party-list to run in May?

A party-list group reportedly organized by a member of the Ampatuan clan has been accredited by the Commission on Elections (Coemelec) for the May 10 elections, according to a civil society group.

Cecilia Rodriguez, a member of a civil society organization in Davao City, said the petition for accreditation of the Adhikain ng Dakilang Anak ng Maharlika (ADAM) was approved by the Comelec’s First Division headed by Commissioner Rene Sarmiento on Aug. 17.

Former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. gave his nephew Energy Undersecretary Zamzamin Ampatuan the go-signal to set up ADAM in June 2009, she added.

“(ADAM was) organized mainly for the benefit of the Ampatuans,” Rodriguez said.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) has rejected the request of Ampatuan Sr. to return the trial for rebellion to General Santos City or Cotabato City from Quezon City.

The ARMM police denied yesterday allegations that special treatment has been given to policemen implicated in the Maguindanao massacre.

Inspector Annie Rose Alvarado, ARMM police spokesperson, said since the suspects are just under restrictive custody, they are allowed to go around the camp with escorts.

A complainant told Catholic station dxMS in Cotabato City yesterday that some of the detained lawmen have been seen leaving their place of detention in Camp SK Pendatun to visit their homes.

Orphans of the slain journalists have formed a group called Justice Now.

Psychologists have reported that 70 percent of the children have been having nightmares twice or thrice a week after the tragic fate of their fathers. Some of them were present when the bodies of their fathers were dug up.

However, Sophia Flor Perez Garduce, Sanlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns officer-in-charge, said such nightmares were expected.

Sanlahi-ACC has been conducting a psycho-social profile of the children of the slain journalists.

Garduce said her group’s objectives were to “release the emotional stress” of family members and have them get acquainted with each other in order to build a support system.  — Edu Punay, Nonong Baliao, Ramil Bajo, Mike Frialde, John Unson, Jaime Laude, Ding Cervantes, Sandy Araneta