Massacre cop re-arrested

DAVAO CITY , Philippines  – Authorities re-arrested before dawn yesterday former Maguindanao provincial police director Senior Superintendent Piang Adam Sr., who had escaped from his detention cell in Sultan Kudarat town last Feb. 16.

Combined forces of the Davao City Police

Office and the Intelligence Division of the Southern Mindanao regional police office arrested Adam, who was implicated in the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao, in his house in Gulf View Executive Homes in Matina.

Adam is also facing separate charges of illegal possession of explosives and ammunition.

He was taken by raiding forces at around 1 a.m. yesterday and did not resist arrest. He even explained why he bolted jail last month.

In an interview with the local Bombo Radyo Davao, Adam said he escaped from detention at the Sultan Kudarat provincial rehabilitation center because the court did not allow him to seek medical treatment for his heart ailment.

He also dispelled reports that he escaped from jail with the help of other police officials, virtually clearing his cousin Sultan Kudarat provincial police director S/Supt. Suharto Teng Tucao of any involvement in his escape.

Tucao earlier insisted that he did not have anything to do with Adam’s escape.

Adam stressed that he escaped when he saw the prison gate wide open and immediately went to Davao City to seek medical treatment.

He said he was planning to surrender since he had filed a motion before the courts with regard to the charges he is facing.

Where’s the beef?

Meanwhile, the families of the victims of the massacre remain hopeful that they will have their day in court even as they assailed the dilatory tactics being employed by the defense panel to prevent the trial from taking place.

At the same time, the Heirs of the 11/23 Heroes are appealing to donors from the international community to send their assistance directly to the intended beneficiaries, and not through private entities purporting to work on their behalf.

“We are satisfied with the way government prosecutors have been handling the case, and we are confident that the case will be given due course despite the legal maneuverings by the suspects,” said Merle Perante, widow of slain journalist Ronnie Perante.

She said her group is still hoping that President Arroyo’s promise that justice would be served before her term ends on June 30 will come true.

They also expressed belief that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will be able see the case through to its logical conclusion.

But Myrna Reblando, widow of Manila Bulletin’s Bong Reblando, told The STAR that their group will seek the intervention of the international court to pursue their call for speedy justice for their loved ones.

“We are just waiting for our Philippine passports to be released. We are going to Jakarta, Indonesia to seek the help of the international court. If the Philippine judicial system cannot handle the case squarely and speedily, then we will file it with the international venue,” Reblando said.

As of Friday, counsels of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. have filed a total of 16 motions in what the victims’ families described as a “brazen attempt” to stall the hearings, which have been suspended since late last month.

Only two of the motions, however, have been resolved, including the motion to inhibit Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 from hearing the multiple murder case.

The group also wants the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), the Freedom Fund for Journalists (FFJ) and other groups soliciting funds for the massacre victims to account for all the money they have received so far from foreign donors and to stop spending on socialization and other needless activities, like taking some of the victims’ families to Boracay.

“Instead, we want the donors to give the money directly to us in terms of livelihood assistance and scholarship for our children,” Perante said on Tuesday, marking the fourth month of the massacre.

The families also lamented the fact that the NUJP and the FFJ were able to make solicitations because of the massacre, and yet the heirs of non-media victims, all of 27, have been left out in the cold.

Some family members of the victims and witnesses also revealed that they have been receiving death threats through text messages and phone calls from unidentified men.

But the Philippine National Police vowed to continue providing security assistance to them.

“All they have to do is to coordinate with the local police or local offices of the Criminal Investigation and Detective Group (CIDG),” said Superintendent Joaquin Alva, spokesman of the Special Investigation Task Group of the Ampatuan massacre and concurrent chief of the CIDG-High Profile Cases.

Junked

The Court of Appeals (CA), in the meantime, junked the bid of Ampatuan to stop authorities from gathering evidence against him and other accused in the case.

The 12th division of the CA dismissed for deficiency in form and substance his petition seeking issuance of writs of amparo and habeas data against continuing searches and seizures on their properties in pursuing the case against him and his relatives.

“Closer examination of the records led us to conclude that the instant petitions failed to comply with the minimum requirements of the rules on the issuance of the writs of amparo and habeas data. Hence, the writs prayed for cannot be issued,” stated the 17-page decision penned by Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda.

Justices Noel Tijam and Apolinario Bruselas concurred in the ruling.

The CA also stressed that the petitioner is already with the custody of the respondent - National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) - when the searches were made, thus, his right to life, liberty, and security could not have been violated. -Nonong Baliao, John Unson, Rose Tamayo-Tesoro, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Edu Punay