Cop held for Comelec exec murder

MANILA, Philippines – Witnesses positively identified a policeman yesterday as the alleged gunman in the murder of Commission on Elections (Comelec) legal department chief Alioden Dalaig.

The alleged gunman, Police Officer 1 (PO1) Basser Ampatuan of the Shariff Kabunsuan provincial police force, was positively identified by two witnesses in a police lineup at the Manila Police District (MPD) headquarters where the suspect was brought earlier by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) regional police.

Chief Inspector Dominador Arevalo, MPD homicide chief, said they will file murder charges against Ampatuan for the killing of Dalaig, based on the positive identification by two witnesses.

Arevalo, however, said the witnesses failed to link Ampatuan to the murder of Wynne Asdala, who succeeded Dalaig in the Comelec’s legal department.

Dalaig was gunned down outside the Hyatt Hotel casino in Manila last November while Asdala was murdered four months later on March 24 just across the Comelec office in Intramuros, also in Manila.

Arevalo said both witnesses failed to recount how Ampatuan was involved in the killing of Asdala although one of them, a certain “Marissa,” identified the policeman through police personnel records during the investigation of the case.

Arevalo said Marissa was even trembling when she confronted Ampatuan in person.

Ampatuan, for his part, denied the allegations.

He said he even volunteered to submit himself for questioning to clear his name.

He claimed that he only came to Manila once in October last year to follow up his loan application.

He also denied going absent without leave (AWOL) after the killings and insisted that he is still an active member of the Shariff Kabunsuan provincial police force.

Shariff Kabunsuan provincial police director Senior Superintendent Esmail Ali said Ampatuan even asked his superiors to present him to Manila to deny allegations that he was the gunman in the murders of Dalaig and Asdala.

Ampatuan, a Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) integree, reportedly went AWOL after the killings.

ARMM Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan denied any involvement in the twin murders, although he admitted he could not ascertain if the policeman is a relative.

Gov. Ampatuan said he has no reason to be involved in the killings since both Dalaig and Asdala are his close friends.

Ali later clarified PO1 Ampatuan is not related to the ARMM governor or the elder Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan.

“He is not related both by blood and by affinity to these two political leaders,” Ali told Catholic station dxMS in Cotabato City.

Ali said Ampatuan had been turned over to the custody of Region 12 police command in General Santos City.

He said they did not arrest Ampatuan since there was no warrant for his arrest.

“Being a mere suspect at this point in time, he was merely ordered to present himself to investigators in Manila. He willingly agreed. There was no resistance from him whatsoever,” Ali said.

Oops

At the MPD headquarters, Ampatuan denied knowing a certain “Irving,” the mystery man seen in the close-circuit television footage supposedly tailing Dalaig at a casino in Ermita.

But when investigators told Ampatuan that they have a photo of him together with Irving, the suspect said it could just “be a coincidence.”

The supposed witness in the Asdala murder earlier identified Ampatuan through police personnel records and even signed the photograph.

But the witness later retracted, Arevalo said. “Our witness (in the Asdala murder) had exhibited extreme fear of the suspect. We will try to convince her that the police are ready to secure her,” he said.

The witnessed earlier recalled seeing Ampatuan near the crime scene shortly after Asdala was gunned down.

Contrary to reports, the witness claimed seeing Ampatuan who was not wearing a bonnet when he allegedly shot Asdala at pointblank range.

On the investigation on Dalaig’s murder, Arevalo said a total of three witnesses identified the policeman as the gunman.

Marissa, one of the witnesses, signed a sworn statement claiming she saw Ampatuan and his male companion in Ermita, Manila on the night of Nov. 6, 2007. She said the two were looking for “female escorts.”

Ampatuan introduced himself as Jerry, a grandson of a former mayor in Maguindanao, according to Marissa. Ampatuan’s companion introduced himself as “Nasser.”

Marissa later identified Nasser as the mystery man on the CCTV video tape tailing Dalaig at the casino.

Arevalo added the man in the video was not Nasser but a certain “Irving,” whom he only identified as a dismissed policeman from Sultan Kudarat.

Marissa said she overheard the two men speaking in a dialect commonly used in southern Mindanao.

Marissa added they were also talking to someone on their cellular phones, mentioning Dalaig in the conversation.

Marissa said she requested Irving for “pasa load” to call her friends.

Since Irving did not know how to do that, Marissa said she was allowed to use his cell phone. This was when Marissa accidentally viewed one of the supposed messages in Irving’s cell phone: “Pare nasa Pavilion si Dalaig gusto ko tapos na ang trabaho this week (Dalaig is at the Pavilion. I want the job finished this week).”

Dalaig was shot by a lone gunman on Nov. 10 as he was crossing the street on his way to the Hyatt Casino Hotel in Ermita. Another informant tipped off the MPD that Ampatuan allegedly shot Dalaig.

National Capital Region Police Office (NRCPO) director Geary Barias formally turned over Ampatuan to the custody of MPD director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.

Barias said coordination with ARMM police director Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao resulted in the custody of Ampatuan.

Rosales led the MPD in fetching Ampatuan under heavy security.

Lim, a former Manila police chief, lauded the MPD for a job well done.

“This is a classic example of good detective work. I salute our men in the MPD,” Lim said. -With John Unson, Sheila Crisostomo