‘Mistakenly arrested’ massacre suspect’s arraignment set

MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City court has set the arraignment of a suspect claiming to be mistakenly arrested for the Maguindanao massacre.

In a seven-page order released Friday, Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes dismissed a motion filed by suspect Talembo Masukat, alias Talembo Kahar Abdulrahman, and set his arraignment on Oct. 23.

Earlier, defense lawyer Andres Manuel asked Solis-Reyes to take judicial notice of the rulings issued by Cotabato RTC Branch 13 Judge Bansawan Ibrahim on a petition for habeas corpus filed by the suspect.

Ibrahim granted the petition and ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to release Abdulrahman from detention, “unless there exist other lawful reasons that will warrant his further detention.”

“The court finds that petitioner Talembo Kahar Abdulrahman is not the same person as Talembo Masukat, who is the subject of the alias warrant of arrest issued by the RTC Branch 221 in Quezon City,” read the order issued by Ibrahim in February.

The Cotabato judge said Abdulrahman was able to establish his identity through the documents he submitted to support his claim, particularly his voter’s identification card, passport, and Government Service Insurance System certificate of membership.

A document submitted to the court also showed that Abdulrahman was a former municipal councilor of the town of Mamasapano in Maguindanao. Earlier reports quoted supposed relatives of Abdulrahman as saying that his implication in the massacre was just a case of mistaken identity.

On March 25, Ibrahim denied for lack of merit the motion for reconsideration filed by ARMM-CIDU regional chief Superintendent Leo Quevedo.

A certificate of finality was also issued by the Cotabato court a day after junking the motion.

Masukat was arrested on Feb. 16 by elements of the 45th Infantry Battalion who were conducting an operation in Mamasapano town. The arresting officers were initially unaware of the suspect’s participation in the Maguindanao massacre as his arrest was due to an earlier shooting incident with authorities, said Quevedo.

He said they were able to establish his participation in the massacre after two witnesses who previously worked for the Ampatuan family identified him as Masukat, who was a close aide of Bahnarin Ampatuan and a former driver of Rebecca Ampatuan.

Bahnarin, the former mayor of Mamasapano, was among the initial 197 suspects in the massacre. He is a grandson of clan patriarch former Maguindanao governor Andal Sr. Rebecca, meanwhile, is the eldest daughter of Andal Sr.

Quevedo said a P300,000 reward was offered for the arrest of Masukat.

CA ruling

In her order, Solis-Reyes said it cannot take judicial notice of the Cotabato court’s ruling in view of an earlier resolution of the Court of Appeals (CA) in the case of Maguindanao massacre suspect Butukan Malang.

Malang, who also claimed to be mistakenly arrested for the massacre, was able to secure a writ of habeas corpus from a Pasig City court.

But in its resolution in 2011, the CA reversed the Pasig City court’s decision and said the granting of a habeas corpus would interfere with the functions of the Quezon City court.

The CA noted that the Quezon City court has already acquired jurisdiction of the suspect when it issued Malang’s commitment order. The suspect has already been arraigned for the incident.

A total of 58 people, including 32 media practitioners, died in the massacre, dubbed as the single worst incident for journalists in world history.