CAMP SK PENDATUN, Maguindanao?Fifteen policemen remain in custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP) regional office here for the mass murder of 57 people in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, while 800 others who were relieved were being transferred to other regions.

Chief Supt. Bienvinido Latag, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police chief, said all relieved police officers are in a ?restricted area? and are on call any time to cooperate with government prosecutors handling the mass murder case and the case of rebellion filed against the Ampatuan clan.

Latag belied reports some of the officers were missing, including Insp. Ariel Diongon.

He said seven police officers and eight others are restricted to camp. For security reasons, their names have been withheld while they are still under investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Diongon and several other officers have turned state witness.

Latag said 33 officers were initially grounded and shipped out of Maguindanao for new assignments following a Jan. 18 memorandum from the PNP to relieve all policemen assigned to the province at the time of the mass murder.

?Some of the policemen do have relatives in Maguindanao and to erase doubts from the public that they might affect or influence the ongoing investigation, higher headquarters decided to have them relieved,? Latag said.

Senior Supt. Alex Lineses, Maguindanao police chief, said more than 200 policemen from Southern Mindanao arrived Tuesday in Shariff Aguak to replace those who were relieved.

Policemen who were not linked to the mass murder but were in Maguindanao when it was committed have been transferred to PNP regional offices in Caraga, Central and Southern Mindanao, Latag said.

He said the fate of officers and men charged with taking part in the crime ?will depend on the outcome of the DOJ findings.?

In General Santos City, SPO1 Rex Diongon of the General Santos City Police Office belied reports that his son went missing.

Earlier this week, the Philippine National Police in Manila reported that Diongon was missing.

PNP Chief Dir. Gen. Jesus Verzosa had ordered a search to locate the younger Diongon, considered a vital witness in the mass murder.

Sources said the DOJ was processing Diongon?s admission into the government?s witness protection program.

Diongon led the police team that stood guard along the route leading to Shariff Aguak when the vehicles carrying the murder victims passed by. Charlie C. Señase and Aquiles Z. Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao