Another Maguindanao massacre suspect falls

A government militiaman implicated in the Nov. 23 massacre of more than 50 people in Maguindanao province in southern Philippines fell in the hands of police Tuesday. Naot Duma was arrested in his safe house in Barangay Meta in Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao at 1:30 a.m., according to Senior Superintendent Benito Estipona, commander of Task Force Maguindanao. Fifty-seven people, including 32 journalists, were killed in the massacre that was blamed on the powerful Ampatuan clan and their armed supporters. "There was some resistance on his [Duma] part but he was later subdued by the arresting team," Estipona said. The suspect was arrested by local policemen with the help of operatives from the National Police’s Intelligence Group and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. He was among the 196 respondents who were ordered arrested by the court. Duma, a member of the Civilian Volunteers Organization (CVO), is currently under the custody of policemen in Mindanao and will be transferred to Camp Crame in Quezon City as soon as a commitment order from Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, the judge who is handling the massacre case, is obtained, Estipona said. Duma’s arrest has brought to 59 the number of suspects in the custody of the government. The number includes members of the Ampatuan clan led by its patriarch, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. Forty-seven policemen and two other government militiamen have been arrested in connection with the massacre, considered as one of the worst cases of political violence in the country. Law enforcers are still looking for 137 other suspects in the case, including 97 other CVO members, 13 policemen, four soldiers and 13 other members of the Ampatuan family. "We look forward to more arrests in the coming days," Estipona said. - KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV