Ampatuan driver nabbed in Pasay

MANILA, Philippines – Police arrested a former Ampatuan family driver, tagged in the Nov. 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre, while he was watching an illegal motorcycle race in Pasay City at past midnight yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton said Moactar Daud, 35, is the 67th suspect to be arrested in connection with the multiple murder case.

Lawyer Nena Santos, who represents Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, said Daud was a member of the civilian volunteers’ organization (CVO) in the province. Mangudadatu’s wife, relatives and supporters were among the 57 victims of the massacre. Thirty of the victims were journalists.

Daud – who was apprehended by a team composed of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) intelligence operatives and Pasay police officers – did not resist when the warrant for his arrest was served, according to Chief Inspector Raymund Ligudin, head of Pasay investigation unit. Daud is currently detained at the Pasay City jail.

Ligudin told The STAR that Daud informed them he was aware of the warrant but opted to evade authorities because “he fears for his life.”

Ligudin said they have yet to establish Daud’s participation in the crime but based on the picture they have obtained from the military, the suspect was wearing “a camouflage police uniform.”

“But he denied being a member of the AFP or the (Philippine National Police),” Ligudin said.

There are still 129 suspects at large. Three of clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr.’s grandchildren, two of them former mayors, are subjects of a manhunt by Task Force Maguindanao.

Of the 129 fugitives, 95 are CVO members; 23 are members of the Ampatuan clan and their allies; 12 are policemen; and four are Army men.

Only around 20 of the 67 suspects arrested have been arraigned, including prime massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr.

The next hearing of the multiple murder case, handled by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, will be on Oct. 20.