14 cops linked to Maguindanao massacre flown to Manila

Fourteen policemen who were among those charged in connection with the Nov. 23 massacre of more than 50 people in Maguindanao province were flown to Manila Thursday to undergo for further investigation, a radio report said. Radio dzMM quoted officials from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as saying that the 14 included Superintendent Abusama Munda Maguid, the relieved Maguindanao police provincial director. The 14 policemen, which included several officials, are among the 62 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) who were recommended charged by the Justice department in connection with the massacre of 57 people. Also named respondents in the murder case were several soldiers and members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, including suspended Datu Unsay Mayor Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr, who is facing trial before a Quezon City court. The 14 policemen were detained at the PNP Headquarters Support Service at Camp Crame in Quezon City. Authorities said 10 more charged policemen would be flown from Mindanao to Manila in the coming days. Officials at Camp Crame will determine if these policemen had a hand in the bloody carnage that happened in Sitio Masalay, Brgy. Salman in Ampatuan town, the radio report said. Considered the worst election-related violence, 57 people - including journalists and relatives of the Ampatuans’ rival clan, the Mangudadatus - were killed in the massacre. Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes has decided to defer two scheduled hearings on Andal Jr.'s murder trial to give the Ampatuan camp time to consolidate information about the prime suspect and the 196 others who were charged. The camp of the powerful clan had already sought the judge's inhibition from the case for allegedly displaying "bias and ineptness" in handling the matter. Hearings on the murder case would resume on February 24. - Mark D. Merueñas/KBK, GMANews.TV