Maguindanao massacre suspect nabbed in Misamis

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — A suspect in the Maguindanao massacre was arrested in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental on Friday.

Nasser Adam, 45, was apprehended in Barangay Mohon, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Northern Mindanao office reported yesterday.

Adam has a pending arrest warrant issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes.

The CIDG said a reward of P300,000 was put up for Adam’s arrest under a memorandum circular issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The suspect is said to be a member of the Ampatuan clan.

Lt. Col. Napoleon Carpio, CIDG deputy regional director, said Adam was hired as security guard at a beverage plant using a fictitious name.

Capt. Jerome Villegas, leader of the CIDG team that arrested Adam, said the suspect moved to Tagoloan last December.

Villegas said Adam went into hiding in Metro Manila when the court issued the arrest warrant.

Seventy other suspects of the Maguindanao massacre remain at large.

In a decision handed down in December, 28 of the accused, five of them members of the Ampatuan clan, were convicted of 57 counts of murder.

Fifteen respondents were convicted of a lesser accessory to murder while 56 others were acquitted.

Meanwhile, Macario Lacasti, the most wanted person in Tublay, Benguet, was killed in an alleged shootout with police Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) personnel in Antipolo, Rizal yesterday.

Lt. Col. Villaflor Banawagan, AKG-Luzon head, said Lacasti was accused of killing his former employer in March 2013.

After eluding arrest, the suspect allegedly joined gangs involved in robberies, contract killings and kidnappings.