INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Two men with exactly the same name—down to the middle initial—have been arrested in connection with the Maguindanao massacre, and Quezon City judge has set a special hearing next Monday to determine which of them is the one truly wanted by the law.
The duplication came to the knowledge of Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Regional Trial Court Branch 221 last Thursday when she received the return of a warrant from the police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, informing her that one Dexson A. Saptula, alias Mohammad Adam, had been arrested in Maguindanao on November 9.
This Saptula had a prize of P250,000 on his head for being one of the 197 people charged with 58 counts of murder in connection with the grisly killings in Maguindanao on November 23, 2003 that are now referred to simply as the Maguindanao Massacre.
The problem, as Judge Solis pointed out, is that another Dexson A. Saptula, alias Rene Matuti, was arrested on the same charges last February and is now undergoing trial.
“So as to enable the court to take action as may be necessary in the premises, let this matter be set for hearing on November 18 at 8:30 in the morning at RTC Branch 221, Quezon City,” the judge said in a two-page order dated November 14.
The court directed Police Officer 1 Teofilo Abubo Jr. and Police Officer 3 Nijel Orfrecio, who arrested the second Saptula in the town of Datu Abdullah Sangki in Maguindanao, to appear at Monday’s hearing. Also ordered to appear were civilians Esmail Guiamad and Pendatun Ali, who executed a joint affidavit identifying Saptula as one of accused in the Maguindanao massacre case.
The second Saptula is the 109th person arrested in connection with the massacre. Eighty-nine more remain at large since only one of the Sapdulas is really among the accused.