NBI: 6 MAGUINDANAO COPS WAS SENT TO METRO MANILA TO SPRING ANDAL, JR.
MANILA, FEBRUARY 3, 2010 (STAR) By Cecille Suerte Felipe - Six policemen from Maguindanao who have gone AWOL (absent without leave) have reportedly been sent to Metro Manila to spring Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) jail, a rival of Ampatuan Jr. said yesterday.Speaking to reporters yesterday, Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu said the six policemen are also out to kill him and his family.
Quoting a very reliable source from the intelligence community, Mangudadatu said the six policemen are from the towns of Datu Hoffer, Mamasapano and Saudi in Maguindanao.
“I got the information about four days ago and I believe these policemen are already here in Metro Manila,” he said.
Mangudadatu said the assassins are staying in the residence of their two relatives, who are active members of the Army.
He will name them in the coming days, he added.
Mangudadatu said the level of information about the assassination and the jailbreak is as accurate as the threat that his supporters would be intercepted on their way to filing his certificate of candidacy last Nov. 23.
He got the information from central Mindanao and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), he added.
Mangudadatu said he is seeking the assistance of Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno and Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa.
He showed reporters the text message containing the information about the assassination:
“Gud am, Dat xtra ingat kau dyn. Meron me nfo target nla manila grupo pamilya nyo. Nandyan daw yung grp a certain Alvin Dismemba Anad Mama Sumaplong wid 6 PNP renegade came from Hoffer and Saudi municipalities. Naka-bileting daw cla s kamag-anak nla AFP. Meron protekta kanila, aralin dn nla paano kunin Unsay. Ingat lang,” the text message stated. (Good morning, Datu be careful. The group of a certain Alvin Dismemba Anad Mama Sumaplong with six renegade policemen is there to target you and your family in Metro Manila. The six cops came from Hoffer and Saudi towns. They are staying with their relatives, who are AFP members and they are also planning to take Unsay out of jail. Be careful.) Unsay is the nickname of Andal Jr.
Mangudadatu said the information apparently prompted the NBI to tighten security around the NBI headquarters on Taft Avenue in Manila.
Poll official: I did not release security escorts
Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle denied yesterday he ordered the release of the six security escorts of ARMM assemblyman Khadafeh Mangudadatu after they were held at a checkpoint in Davao del Sur for violating the election gun ban last Friday.
“What I said was it was okay and they were granted only one additional security escort aside from the allowed two bodyguards.”
In a telephone interview, Tagle said he had no idea that Mangudadatu had six bodyguards when police accosted his three-vehicle convoy in Matan-ao after they had evaded two checkpoints in Digos City.
Had he known that Mangudadatu had six armed bodyguards with him, he would have ordered the arrest of the politician and the security escorts found carrying firearms without a Comelec permit, he added.
Mangudadatu had called him up around 5 p.m. on Jan. 29 and passed the phone to Davao del Sur police director Senior Supt. Ronald de la Rosa, he added.
Tagle did not specifically say how many security escorts Mangudadatu was allowed under a Comelec permit, De la Rosa said.
He ordered the immediate release of Mangudadatu and his bodyguards because he thought he had only three security escorts, Tagle said.
Ampatuan Jr. wants prosecutors to stop interviews
The government has asked a Quezon City court to dismiss a petition of murder suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. seeking to ban prosecutors and witnesses from giving interviews to the media.
Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon said Ampatuan Jr.’s motion should be denied because the sub judice rule has not been violated.
“The undersigned prays that the subject motion (of Ampatuan Jr.’s camp) be denied for lack of merit,” he said.
Defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun has asked the court to ban Department of Justice prosecutors and witnesses from giving interviews and “unfair statements” on court hearings.
The statements violated his client’s “right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty,” he added.
Fortun asked Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to direct Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera to explain why she should not be cited for contempt after stating in a TV interview that the testimony of witness Rasul Sangki is “strong enough” to oppose Ampatuan Jr.’s bail application.
However, Fadullon said the public has the right to know what the government is doing regarding the Maguindanao massacre.
“The prosecution relies only on its evidence to prove the guilt of the accused, not on the media in any way,” he said.
“The accused does not know how hard we try to make ourselves scarce to the media purposely to avoid interviews about the academics of the cases – media are practically hounding us,” he said.
“When cornered, however, we are quick to point out only one thing, to assure the public our justice system is hard at work to resolve the above-entitled cases.”
Mangudadatu: Teodoro did not ask me to back out
Vice Mayor Mangudadatu said yesterday former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. did not dissuade him from running for Maguindanao governor against Ampatuan Jr.
Mangudadatu said Teodoro was never close to the Ampatuans, who are closer to Nationalista Party standard-bearer Manuel Villar Jr.
Villar slept in the house of the Ampatuans before the Nov. 23 massacre, he added.
Mangudadatu said a certain Anwar Ampatuan is chairman of the NP.
“Those Ampatuans go where there is money. Initially they were talking with former President Joseph Estrada but they later talked with Villar as advised by Andal Ampatuan Sr.,” he said.
Mangudadatu has asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday to grant his request for more police bodyguards.
“I receive death threats everyday, that I won’t make it to the election, and what happened to my family was not a threat, they were massacred,” he said.
He personally needs at least four police bodyguards to ensure his safety, Mangudadatu said. – With John Unson, Rose Tamayo-Tesoro, Edith Regalado, Reinir Padua
'Ampatuan arms came from police arsenal' (The Philippine Star) Updated February 03, 2010 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Some of the firearms of the Ampatuans came from the police arsenal, a military official said yesterday.
The military official who asked not to be named told The STAR that before last year’s Maguindanao massacre, some 200 baby Armalite rifles were brought to ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan’s house in Shariff Aguak.
The rifles were picked up by Superintendent Abusama Maguid of the ARMM police from Awang Airport at Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao, he added.
The source said the firearms came from Camp Crame in Quezon City supposedly to be issued to newly trained policemen of the ARMM Regional Mobile Group.
Maguid, whose wife is a close relative of the Ampatuans, was the chief of the ARMM police supply unit and acting director of the Maguindanao police at the time.
Maguid was relieved from his post immediately after the Maguindanao massacre and is under restrictive custody.
Most of the recovered firearms, particularly the recovered rifles, had markings of government arsenals, the source said.
MILF: No alliance with Ampatuans
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rejected yesterday as a “cheap shot” insinuations that it had linked up with militiamen loyal to the Ampatuan clan.
Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF vice chairman for political affairs, said it is the joint ceasefire committee that could confirm if members of Ampatuan-controlled Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVO) have joined the MILF in Maguindanao.
“That could be meant to destroy the ongoing peace initiative between the government and the MILF,” he said.
“We can’t gain anything by allowing groups being hunted by the police and the military to join our ranks. We must not forget that there are international groups observing the GRP-MILF talks.”
Maj. Randolph Cabangbang, Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command spokesman, said that former militiamen employed by the Ampatuans have joined the MILF’s 106th Base Command, whose chief, Adan Abdullah, is a known relative of the clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr.
Local officials in Shariff Aguak, said some members of the Ampatuan militia have joined MILF forces under Commander Item Ampatuan, a relative of the detained former governor.
Meanwhile, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division yesterday started imposing security measures to ensure peaceful elections in Maguindanao.
Col. Ernesto Aradanas, Army 603rd Infantry Brigade commander, said part of their election security initiative is the disarming of more armed groups.
The 603rd Brigade has seized some 200 assault rifles from CVO members and militiamen the past two months.
Lt. Col. Benjamin Hao, Army 6th Infantry Division spokesman, said the demobilization of the CVOs and the deactivation of the militias are in compliance with Resolution No. 8714 of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). – Rose Tamayo-Tesoro, John Unson
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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