Massacre suspect arrested

COTABATO CITY—Soldiers arrested another suspect in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre in a chance encounter with armed men in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao on Saturday, the military reported.

Talimbo Abulrakman, also known as Tommy Masukat, would be flown to Manila “anytime soon” to face charges along with the other principal suspects belonging to the prominent Ampatuan political clan, said Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

At least 58 civilians, mostly media practitioners, were summarily executed on Nov. 23, 2009, allegedly by members of the Ampatuan clan, in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, in what has been considered the worst heinous crime in Philippine politics.

Among the victims were the wife and relatives of Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu.

Arrest warrants have been issued against over a hundred suspects, with less than 90 of them still pending.

Hermoso said soldiers from the 45th Infantry Battalion, who were on patrol in Barangay Manungkaling in Mamasapano, encountered a group of heavily armed men, resulting in a brief skirmish. Charlie C. Señase, Inquirer Mindanao