Massacre suspect attacked in Bicutan

MANILA, Philippines - A suspect in the Maguindanao massacre was brought to a hospital outside his detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City after he was reportedly punched by another inmate last weekend.

In a letter to Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, Senior Inspector Reuben Olivo – warden of the Quezon City Jail-Annex (QCJA) in Camp Bagong Diwa – said they had to bring Datukan Malang Salibo to the Taguig Pateros District Hospital on Sunday.

Olivo, who recommended Salibo to be brought to the hospital, said the latter was punched by a fellow inmate on the left side of his face and “was suspected for head injury.”

The warden did not identify the inmate and the circumstances behind the incident. Detainees at the QCJA include more than a hundred suspects charged for the Nov. 23, 2009 incident.

According to Olivo, the suspect was examined by physician Marconi Christian Angeles at the emergency room of the hospital. The doctor found that he suffered a lacerated wound on his face and recommended that he undergo a cranial CT scan.

Salibo was brought back to the detention facility at around 7 p.m. the same day.

The suspect is among 109 of 197 suspects arrested for the massacre.

Salibo earlier claimed that he was mistakenly arrested for the massacre as his real name is Butukan Malang.

He said he was on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia from Nov. 7 to Dec. 19, 2009 and that it was impossible for him to have been involved in the incident.

But in an eight-page omnibus order last year, the judge dismissed Salibo’s motions for lack of merit, based on a testimony of a fellow suspect who identified him as one of the accused.

Reyes said that while Salibo’s supposed name – Butukan Malang – does not appear in the charge sheet, that name was indicated as Malang’s alias in the return of arrest warrant and the commitment order.

Suspect Police Officer 1 Pia Kamidon earlier tagged Salibo as having been with primary accused Andal Ampatuan Sr. at the time of the massacre.

Solis-Reyes further said that a mistake in the accused’s name does not necessarily mean a mistake in his identity, noting that his defense of alibi should be “discussed in a full-blown trial instead of a preliminary hearing for the resolution of a motion to quash.”

Fifty-eight people, including 32 media practitioners, died in the massacre.