DILG's Puno wants Ampatuans, other Maguindanao execs suspended

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno on Thursday said he would push for the indefinite suspension of all provincial officials in Maguindanao following the massacre of 57 people there that elicited condemnation across the world. "I will be recommending for the immediate preventive suspension of all local officials directly or indirectly linked to the incident," Puno said at a press conference in Camp Crame.

He said an indefinite suspension is necessary to allow for an impartial investigation of the gruesome massacre, believed to be a product of the feud between the Ampatuan and the Mangudadatu clans. If ever President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo grants the request of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), "people appointed on a temporary basis" would immediately fill in the vacated posts, Puno said. Currently being investigated for the massacre is Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., who surrendered Thursday morning and was brought to Manila for inquest. He belongs to the powerful Ampatuan clan - a known rival of the Mangudadatus. [See: Massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. surrenders] Andal Ampatuan Sr., clan patriarch, has been the governor of Maguindanao since 2001, until he resigned early this year. He was replaced by his vice governor and son Sajid, who sits as acting governor. Puno said that since the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), of which Maguindanao is a part, has its own interior department governing it, the national DILG has no authority over it. The DILG then has to seek permission from the President before it can meddle with the affairs in the region. "Kaya nga autonomous sila. Iba ang mga batas diyan (That's why they are autonomous. They have their own laws)," Puno said. Puno said he wanted the Maguindanao governor and all the province's mayors suspended because of their close ties with their respective local police forces. Three police officials in Maguindanao have been relieved and are being investigated for their alleged involvement in the massacre, namely Maguindanao deputy director Chief Inspector Sukarno Adil Dicay, Ampatuan police chief SPO2 Badawe Bakal, and Inspector Ariel Diongon. Maguindanao police director Senior Superintendent Abusana Maguid has also been relieved for command responsibility over his three subordinates. [See: Maguindanao placed under state of emergency] PNP chief's appointments Republic Act 6975, the Philippine National Police law, requires the Interior Department to clear appointments and designations of police chiefs with local officials concerned. Under Section 51 of the law, city and municipal mayors shall have authority over the PNP units in their respective jurisdictions. This authority includes the choosing of the chief of police from a list of five eligibles recommended by the provincial police director, preferably from the same province, city or municipality. Puno said he had long wanted to amend this provision on the law, saying it triggers "structural problems." Puno said he wanted amendments to the law that makes city, town and provincial executives the clearinghouse for police chiefs' appointments in their localities. "Ang nangyayari, nakakalimutan na ng mga pulis na ipagtanggol ang bayan dahil inuuna nila ang mga ninung-ninongan nila," Puno said, referring to mayors and the governors. (What happens is that policemen neglect their duties to the country because they serving their godfathers becomes their priority.) Even before the looming suspension, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) has already taken steps to ensure that the local government can no longer hold the local police by its neck. Through Resolution No. 209610 issued on Thursday, the governor and all mayors of Maguindanao were stripped of their deputization powers over their local police forces, Puno said. "The significance of this order is that local officials will no longer have operational supervision and control over the PNP," said Napolcom vice chairman Eduardo Escueta. “Operational supervision and control" shall mean the power to direct, superintend, oversee and inspect the police units and forces, according to the law. The police are currently investigating more than 370 people being linked to the November 23 massacre where a convoy led by the Mangudadatu camp was waylaid in Ampatuan town. Apart from Ampatuan and the four police officials, 347 members of the Special Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit Active Auxiliary (SCAA) - who were earlier disarmed and deactivated - are likewise being subjected to an investigation. They belonged to the 4th, 8th, 9th, and 10th SCAA companies in Maguindanao. While the SCAAs are being investigated, the government has redeployed troops from the 46th Infantry Battalion to fortify the security in the province. The military and the police have already taken control of the capitol building of Maguindanao, as well as the respective municipal halls of Ampatuan and Shariff Aguak towns. Last Monday, about 100 armed men blocked a convoy led by Buluan town Vice Mayor Ismael Mangudadatu's wife on their way to Shariff Aguak town to file his certificate of candidacy for the gubernatorial post in the 2010 polls. At least 57 people, many of whom were journalists, were massacred and buried, together with their vehicles, in shallow mass graves on a remote hill, several kilometers from the highway where they were first stopped. Military deployment Meanwhile, a military spokesman said Thursday that two Army battalions and a separate company have been deployed to Shariff Aguak and Ampatuan towns and other municipalities in Maguindanao to ensure the peaceful resolution of the gruesome Monday massacre. In a telephone interview Thursday morning with GMANews.TV, Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said that the deployment is part of efforts to come up with a "peaceful resolution of the crisis." Brawner clarified that the military’s presence there is to augment police forces doing pursuit operations against the 100-strong armed men believed to have perpetrated the massacre, which he branded as "a heinous crime." Preparation for 2010 polls In preparation for the 2010 elections, Puno said his department will also take up the matter with the Commission on Elections (Comelec). “What we intend to do prior to the election is to identify areas where the chiefs of police and provincial (police) directors may have become so close to the local officials as to lose their impartiality. In the coming elections we will take action on that and bring it up with the Comelec," he said. - with a report from Carmela Lapeña/LG, GMANews.TV