2 more Maguindanao massacre suspects fall; 91 now in jail

MANILA, Philippines—Two more suspects in the 2009 massacre of 57 persons, including more than 30 journalists, in Maguindanao fell into the hands of the authorities on the same day the alleged mastermind entered a plea of innocence to the brutal crime.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Wednesday the capture of former policeman Tanny Dalgan, 35, and Rakim Amil, alias Ramil Kenog, 25, brought to 91 the number of people arrested in connection with the massacre. A total of 195 have been charged.

Members of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Philippine Army arrested the two at about 5 a.m. in Sitio (settlement) Dansalan, Barangay (village) Panadtaban, Raja Buayan in Maguindanao, on the strength of warrants issued by a Quezon City court.

Dalgan, a resident of Sultan Sa Barongis and a former security escort of Vice Mayor Sukarno Badal, and Amil of Datu Paglas each carried a prize of P250,000 for their arrests.

The CIDG director, Chief Superintendent Samuel D. Pagdilao Jr., said the two suspects were put in the custody of the CIDG in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in Cotabato City.

Upon interrogation, Dalgan “admitted that he was with Vice Mayor Badal during the actual killing of the victims at Sitio Masalay, Ampatuan town,” the CIDG said in a statement.

Amil, on the other hand, confessed that he had served the Ampatuans as a member of their Civilian Volunteer Organization, the CIDG said.

Pagdilao described the twin arrests as another highlight in the Aquino government’s “commitment to account for all the responsible in the said killing and to bring them to the bar of justice.”

Pagdilao assured the families of all the victims that the CIDG, together with its field operatives in Maguindanao province, would relentlessly hunt down all of the 104 remaining suspects.

The CIDG is the lead agency tasked by PNP Director General Raul Bacalzo to investigate the Maguindanao massacre and to run after all the suspects.

In November 2009, armed men stopped the six-vehicle convoy carrying the family members of then Buluan Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, as they were about to file his candidacy, along with supporters and journalists.

The whole group was massacred in a hilly area.