Ampatuan militiaman tagged in massacre falls

MANILA, Philippines - A suspect in the Nov. 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre was arrested in a joint police-military operation in Datu Abdullah Sangki town in the province Saturday, an official said yesterday.

Dixon Saptula, also known as Mohammad Adam, a former member of the Ampatuan clan’s militia, was apprehended along with his companion, Toto Pamanay, in Barangay Banaba by members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and soldiers from the Army’s 45th and 46th Infantry Battalions (IBs).

Lt. Col. Donald Hongitan, commanding officer of the 45th IB, said the joint operation that led to the arrest of Saptula was carried out with the help of local officials.

“The purpose was only to arrest this massacre suspect based on a warrant issued by a court, but incidentally, Pamanay was also there, in possession of firearms, so our counterparts in the police took custody of him,” said Hongitan, who was among the senior Army officers who helped supervise the raid on Saptula’s hideout.

Saptula was one of those allegedly involved in the slaughter of 58 people, 23 of them members of media, in Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town almost four years ago.

Operatives of the CIDG in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) learned of the presence of Saptula in Barangay Banaba from local villagers.

Saptula and Pamanay, an alleged member of the 106th Base Command of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, surrendered when police officers and soldiers surrounded their hideout.

Local officials said Saptula was coddled by a group belonging to the MILF’s 106th Base Command since the time he escaped from Shariff Aguak town immediately after the arrest on Dec. 7, 2009 of several members of the Ampatuan family who allegedly masterminded the massacre.

The two men yielded an M-16 assault rifle, a .45 caliber pistol and fragmentation grenades to the joint police-military raiding team.

The suspects are now in the custody of the CIDG-ARMM, which will charge Pamanay with illegal possession of firearms and explosives today.