Another Maguindanao massacre suspect arrested

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Government operatives arrested past 3 p.m. Thursday another suspect in the infamous Nov. 23, 2009 “Maguindanao Massacre” in Mamasapano town in the province, police said.

Mama Nomba Habib, an alleged member of the private militia of the Ampatuan family, voluntarily turned himself in after sensing that combined police and military operatives have surrounded his hideout in Barangay Manongkaling, a secluded area in Mamasapano.

Habib was one of close to 200 people implicated in the massacre, the country’s worst ever election-related violence.

The suspect was arrested by combined members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (CIDG ARMM), the Maguindanao provincial police office and the Army’s 45th Infantry Battalion.

Chief Inspector Jovit Culaway, one of the police officers that led the search for Habib in Barangay Manongkaling, said they learned of the massacre suspect’s presence in the area from villagers and local religious leaders.

Habib is now detained at the office of CIDG-ARMM at the P.C. Hill in Cotabato City.