Former cop tagged in Maguindanao massacre arrested

MANILA, Philippines – A former policeman in Sultan Kudarat accused of taking part in the Maguindanao massacre was arrested over the weekend, along with two other murder suspects, the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said Monday.

The arrest of former PO1 Ahmad Camsa Badal, alias Dukoy Badal, 26, brought to 93 the number of suspects arrested by authorities in connection with the 2009 massacre of at least 57 persons, including 32 journalists, and the disappearance of one in Maguindanao.

Some 102 others remained at large, as of Monday, the CIDG said. The arrest was made on the strength of a warrant of arrest issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn A. Solis- Reyes.

Badal was arrested at about 9:45 a.m. on Saturday by joint elements of the Isulan Municipal Office and Sultan Kudarat CIDG led by Senior Inspector Jose Teody G. Condesa, the CIDG said.

In a statement, the CIDG director, Chief Supt. Samuel D. Pagdilao Jr. also announced the arrest of two “most wanted” persons in the Caraga region and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Vicente Pille, alias Itik, 49, of South Cotabato and number 10 in the ARMM’s most wanted persons, and Victor Pagaspas, 31, of Butuan City and ranked as number 15 in Caraga’s list of most wanted persons, were arrested in separate operations.

Pagdilao said Pille was arrested at about 9:30 a.m. on Friday by elements of 12th Regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit in Sitio Rampang, Barangay Centralia Surullah in South Cotabato.

Pille is the primary suspect in the November 15, 2005, shooting in Sitio Sto Niño in South Cotabato that resulted in the death of 22-year-old Herson Santuele.

Then on Sunday, elements of the 13th Regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit arrested Pagaspas at about 9:30 a.m. in Barangay Tampocon 1, Ayungon, Negros Oriental. Pagaspas had a P75,000 bounty on his head.

Pagdilao said that prior to his arrest, Pagaspas had gone into hiding in Metro Manila and Negros Oriental for the past 12 years.