MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila De Lima created a panel of prosecutors to conduct a preliminary investigation on the suspected involvement of Maguindanao Buluan Mayor Ibrahim “Diong” Mangudadatu, brother of Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, in the death of Maguindanao Provincial Prosecutor Akilali Balt last March 15.
In Department Order No. 200, dated March 21, De Lima designated Assistant State Prosecutor Vimar M. Barcellano and Prosecution Attorneys Gerard E. Gaerlan and Mark Roland S. Estepa.
“The prosecutors are likewise directed to conduct the preliminary investigation of the said case, insofar as Mayor Ibrahim “Diong” Mangudadatu is concerned and to file the appropriate information in the proper court and handle its active prosecution, if evidence so warrants,” De Lima said in the order.
The mayor’s wife and sisters were among the 58 persons killed in the Nov. 23, 2009, massacre.
De Lima ordered the preliminary investigation against Mangudadatu after Balt’s daughter Aminah asked the Department of Justice (DoJ) to place the arrested triggerman Akmad Makakena Maliga under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after he identified the mayor as the mastermind in the killing.
Maliga was arrested after eyewitness Dandan Datudacula positively identified him as the one who shot Balt.
Balt and his driver were on their way home on board his black Isuzu pickup on March 15 when two gunmen riding in tandem a black and white Honda Wave motorcycle opened fire while the victims service vehicle was caught in a traffic jam along Rosary Heights, Cotabato City.