Another suspect in Maguindanao massacre arrested

MANILA, Philippines - Another suspect in the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre in Maguindanao was arrested yesterday morning in Cotabato City by combined elements of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz said suspect Salipada Tampugao was nabbed at about 9 a.m. at Purok Bango Ingued, Barangay Tamontaka.

Tampugao was arrested by virtue of the arrest warrants for 57 counts of multiple murder issued by Quezon City Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes.

Tampugao, who carries a P250,000 reward for his arrest, is now in the custody of the CIDG-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government has offered a total of P28 million for information that will lead to the arrest of suspects in the massacre who remain at large.

According to the PNP, of the 195 suspects in the Maguindanao massacre, 79 have been arrested while 116 remain at large.

Allowed to leave?

In a related development, a jail insider alleged yesterday that members of the Ampatuan family, who have been detained for their involvement in the Maguindanao massacre, can go in and out of their cells in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

This came after text messages circulated that the clan patriarch has escaped from detention.

The source, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told The STAR that Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his son Andal Jr. were being allowed to leave their detention cell “probably, to get some fresh air.”

“Maybe the rumors (of escape) stemmed from that because Unsay (Andal Jr.’s nickname) and his father can leave their cell and go downstairs,” the source said in Filipino.

The Ampatuans’ cell is located at the fourth level of the Quezon City Jail Annex inside the Bicutan facility.

Jail warden Chief Inspector Ermilito Moral, for his part, belied rumors that the patriarch broke free.

In a phone interview, he said Andal Sr. “is inside his cell and guarded by armed men. How will he escape?“

All the guards and policemen inside and around the detention center’s vicinity were, nonetheless, ordered to beef up security, he added.

The STAR tried to get a comment from Andal Sr.’s lawyer Sigfrid Fortun but calls and text messages went unanswered.

Red alert

Meanwhile, the jail facility was placed under red alert yesterday.

Another insider, who also requested anonymity, told The STAR that the move was necessary because such text messages might mean that the “old man will escape or someone will abduct him in jail.”

“This calls for tighter security measures because he (Andal Sr.) is not just a suspect (in the Maguindanao massacre) but he also has other enemies,” the source said.

Members of the Ampatuan clan are the suspected masterminds in the killings of 57 people in Maguindanao last Nov. 23.

The victims, led by the wife of now Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, were on their way to Cotabato to register him as gubernatorial candidate when armed men allegedly led by Andal Jr. intercepted and killed them. Maguindanao is a stronghold of the Ampatuans.

Meantime, the Office of the Solicitor General, on the other hand, has asked a Manila court to deny the plea of Andal Jr. to stop the government from admitting one of his co-accused to the Witness Protection Program (WPP).

In a comment secured from the sala of Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221, Assistant Solicitor General Bernard Herrera told the Manila RTC Branch 173 that Andal Jr. was forum-shopping.

Andal Jr.’s camp filed a civil case of certiorari and prohibition and asked the Manila court to cancel the admission of Mohamad Sangki into the Department of Justice’s WPP for alleged disregard of the rules on the discharge of a state witness. – With Aie Balagtas See, Reinir Padua