CIDG, Army seize ammunition from suspected Ampatuan warehouse

MANILA, Philippines—Authorities last Saturday seized high-powered ammunition stored in a Maguindanao warehouse allegedly owned by the Ampatuan clan, police said Thursday.

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao, Jr. said that some 35 pieces of high powered ammunition had been confiscated from a warehouse in Manungkaling village, Mamasapano, Maguindanao province in a joint operation by members of the CIDG and the 45th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.

What started out as a joint operation to arrest Talembo “Tammy” Masukat, one of the suspects in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, also led the authorities to discover a warehouse which served as an ammunition depot allegedly owned by former Mamasapano Mayor Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan.

Masukat had been wanted for multiple murder and authorities sought to serve him an arrest warrant which had been issued by Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Branch 221, Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

CIDG said that Masukat had a P300,000 bounty on his head. Prior to the joint operation, authorities received information that he had been seen at the warehouse with several armed men.

Citing reports from the CIDG operatives based in ARMM, Pagdilao said that authorities believed that Masukat and his group may have sensed their presence as they were able to flee from the warehouse. They left behind 35 pieces of 81 and 60-millimeter mortar shells and 163 rounds of ammunition for .50 caliber machine guns.

Pagdilao said that the ammunition they seized have been turned over to the Army’s 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.