Court orders police to present ‘wrong suspect’ in Maguindanao massacre
GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines—A regional trial court judge here has issued a writ of habeas corpus requiring the police to present to it a person who claims he was wrongly arrested in connection with the Maguindanao massacre.
Judge Oscar Noel on Tuesday ordered the regional command of the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group under Senior Superintendent Pedro Austria to bring Richard Gofel, a local resident, back to this city and present him in court at 2 p.m. on Thursday.
Gofel, 28, was arrested in the town of Glan in Sarangani province on Wednesday last week after a witness pointed him as a suspect in the massacre.
Gofel denied any involvement in the killing, saying he was not a member of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit and had not been to Maguindanao.
The Glan police under Inspector Jaime Tabucon turned over Gofel to the custody of the CIDG. The CIDG immediately released Gofel but he was re-arrested the following day after two witnesses insisted he was a suspect in the Maguindanao massacre.
On Saturday, about 500 residents of Purok (zone) Minanga where Gofel lived and some community officials trooped to the CIDG office at Camp Fermin G. Lira Jr. here demanding Gofel’s release.
Minanga residents certified that the police had arrested an innocent person, not Fahad Utto, one of the suspects in the mass slaughter of 58 persons, 32 of whom were media workers.
Rafael Tumulak, a contractor who had hired Gofel as a welder, came forward to vouch for Gofel, pointing out he was not the wanted Utto.
Tumulak, who joined the protest action, claimed that Gofel had worked for him from 2008 to 2010.
Instead of listening to his testimony, the CIDG tried to arrest and handcuff Tumulak during the protest rally. He, however, managed to escape and is now under the custody of a local official here.
Emilyn, Gofel’s wife, assailed the CIDG for arresting and detaining a wrong suspect.
“What the CIDG did was a total disregard of my husband’s fundamental rights,” Emilyn said between sobs.
Accompanied by her lawyer, Chalmer Gevieso, Emilyn filed a petition for habeas corpus on Tuesday. .
City chief prosecutor Edilberto Jamora rebuked the CIDG for disregarding the constitutional rights of Gofel.
“They came to me bringing the photograph of massacre suspect Fahad Utto. I noticed that the one in picture was far different compared to Gofel,” Jamora told reporters here.
Jamora claimed that the CIDG men came to his office bringing Gofel for inquest proceedings, but “they brought the picture of Fahad Utto, not of Gofel.”
Jamora said he was confused by what the CIDG was trying to do.
Every massacre suspect, including Utto, said to be a Cafgu member based in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, carries a P250,000 bounty.
Jamora added that he advised the CIDG to defer the transfer of Gofel to Manila but it just fell on deaf ears.
He said he further told the CIDG officials to validate the identity of the arrested person to avoid violating his rights.
“If they presented a wrong suspect to the Department of Justice, their unit will be embarrassed,” he said.
He said Minanga residents claimed that Gofel as a B’laan native.
“Fahad Utto is a Maguindanaoan. Besides, there’s big difference in the facial features of Gofel compared to the profile picture of Utto,” Jamora added.
Austria and his men brought Gofel to Manila on Monday, prompting the family to file a petition of habeas corpos in court.
In an interview with reporters, Austria said Gofel must prove his innocence in court.
