2 more suspects fall

MANILA, Philippines—Two more suspects in the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre were arrested on the same day Andal Ampatuan Sr. was arraigned for the multiple murders.

Police said ex-PO2 Tanny Dalgan, 35, and Rakim Amil alias Ramil Kenog, 25, were arrested by a team composed of members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Army at about 5 a.m. in Sitio Dansalan, Barangay Panadtaban, Raja Buayan in Maguindanao, on the strength of warrants issued by a Quezon City court.

Dalgan, of Sultan Sa Barongis and a former security escort of Vice Mayor Sukarno Badal, and Amil, of Datu Paglas, each had a bounty of P250,000 on their heads.

They are now in the custody of the CIDG in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, according to the CIDG director, Chief Supt. Samuel D. Pagdilao Jr.

In a statement, the CIDG said Dalgan had “admitted that he was with Vice Mayor Badal” during the actual massacre at Sitio Masalay, Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

It said Amil had confessed to serving the Ampatuans as a member of their civilian volunteer organization.

Pagdilao described the arrests as another highlight in the Aquino administration’s “commitment to account for all those responsible for the [massacre] and to bring them to the bar of justice.”

He assured the families of the massacre victims that the CIDG would continue to hunt down the remaining suspects.