Escaped Ampatuan ally recaptured in Davao City

A supposed ally of the powerful Ampatuan clan who bolted his detention cell in Sultan Kudarat last month was recaptured early Wednesday morning in Davao City. Authorities arrested retired Superintendent Piang Adam, former Maguindanao provincial director, at the residence of a certain Nel Avena inside the Gulf View Executive Homes in Barangay Bago about 5:20 a.m. Adam tried climbing over a fence and onto a roof of an adjoining apartment before police caught him. "The arrest was a result of weeks of intensified surveillance and intelligence monitoring," said Chief Inspector Alexander Rondal. Adam was arrested by joint operatives from the PNP Special Action Force, the Davao City Police, and the Regional Intelligence Units in Soccsksargen and Davao. He was reported to have escaped from his jail while local officials and the police were busy preparing for the visit of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the province. He was last seen entering his detention cell at 4 p.m. of February 16, but the guard assigned to the former police official reported his disappearance the next day. The escape was discovered after jail guards of the Sultan Kudarat provincial jail saw the broken padlock on the door of his detention cell. At least 24 jail guards have been investigated, with four of them being on duty at the time Adam was observed missing. Escape facilitated by cousins? Charges have already been pressed against two of the jail guards on duty, according to Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa. Earlier reports suspected that his escape was facilitated by Sultan Kudarat provincial police director Senior Superintendent Suharto Teng Tocao and jail guard Taha Kadalum — both of whom are Adam's cousins. Adam was first arrested in Sultan Kudarat last December when the military raided his home and seized several high-powered firearms and explosives. Among the charges Adam is facing are falsification of public documents and malversation of public funds for allegedly supplying some of the government-owned firearms to the Ampatuans. He was also charged for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. He was put in hot water when he reportedly failed to return a firearm that belonged to the Maguindanao police, claiming it got burned. However, military units found the missing firearm in one of the confiscated weapons found hidden in Ampatuan properties. Adam is a known ally of the Ampatuan clan, whose members are in hot water over the massacre of 57 people, including journalists and lawyers, in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao last November 23. — with Mark Merueñas/RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV