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Criticized for dragging its feet on the case, Malacañang advised Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and other suspects to turn themselves in for investigation in connection with last Monday's massacre of civilians and journalists in Maguindanao.
“It definitely will help if those who feel that they are already being considered as suspects to turn themselves in and cooperate with the law enforcement agencies,'” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.
Police yesterday recovered 11 more corpses from two graves 15 feet deep and near a dirt road in Ampatuan town, bringing the death toll to 57. Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.'s name was floated as the primary suspect based on witnesses' accounts.
In Cebu City, the Maguindawon tribe here voiced their lament and anxiety over the massacre, saying the incident would only raise tensions in the fragile peace and order climate in the province.
Imam Aladdin Ubpon of the AI-Khairiah Mosque in Basak-Mambaling Cebu City, who has relatives in Maguindanao, said the deaths should be condemned by everyone regardless of one's religious beliefs.
Imam Ubpon, a grade school teacher in Mambaling Elementary School, said the murders of the women in the group, including the vice mayor's wife and two sisters showed the blatant disregard for Islam's laws by the perpetrators.
“According to the teachings of Prophet Mohammad, those encountering non-Muslims should not touch the women, children and the elderly,” he said.
Imam Ubpon said their deaths only showed that anything can happen in the province and that they are praying that justice is brought to the victims.
The Cebu City Council also passed a resolution in its session yesterday, voicing its condemnation on the killings.
The council urged law enforcement agencies to investigate the case and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Copies of the resolution were sent to Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation and all law enforcement agencies in the country.
Meanwhile, Ermita said the surrender of the suspects would help defuse the situation in Maguindanao.
“Not only the Ampatuans, but everybody that may feel alluded to as suspects, they better present themselves to the authorities...Nobody is above the law,” he said.
Ermita doused speculations that the Ampatuan clan, which delivered votes for President Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 presidential vote, was “untouchable.”
At one point, he asked Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to “cooperate in the investigation” to show that he respects the country's Constitution and the legal system.
Despite the police's pronouncement on Ampatuan Jr., President Arroyo and Malacañang stopped short of directing the police to arrest him, saying that due process should take its course. A crisis management team was formed to handle the investigation into the case.
Secretary Raul Gonzalez, chief presidential legal counsel, cautioned the government against hastily arresting the Ampatuans in the absence of solid evidence.
But he said the Maguindanao provincial government-owned backhoe in the crime scene was a “circumstantial evidence'' against the Ampatuans.
Government security forces have yet to make any arrest in connection with the massacre, but are making progress in recovering the remains.
Chief Supt. Josefino Cataluña, Central Mindanao police chief, said two of the newly dug up bodies were separately buried inside two vehicles.
He said another van was also recovered from the same grave.
“We expect to gather more bodies as our personnel scour the area,” Cataluña said.
He said the victims included more than 20 journalists who were supposed to cover the filing of the certificate of candidacy of Maguindanao gubernatorial candidate and Buluan vice mayor Esmael Mangudadatu.
But the police refused to consider members of the Ampatuan clan as suspects despite repeated statements by the victims' kin that they received death threats from the Ampatuans days before the massacre.
The wife of Esmael Mangudadatu, Genalyn, was able to text him shortly beforet the massacre, to report that they were being held hostage by 100 armed men of the Ampatuans and that Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. was right there.
Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina, PNP spokesman, said they have not tagged Andal Ampatuan Jr. as a primary suspect in the murders.
Joint military and police units deployed to run after the perpetrators have not located the armed men believed to be militiamen under the employ of the Ampatuans.
Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman, admitted that the sprawling forest areas where the armed men reportedly took refuge was affecting military operations in the area.
