Another suspect in Maguindanao massacre nabbed in North Cotabato — police

Another suspect in the massacre of 58 people in Maguindanao province in 2009 was arrested on Thursday morning in North Cotabato, police said.

 

Kudza Uguia Masukat was apprehended by authorities at 10 a.m. Thursday at a government checkpoint in Barangay Tugal in Midsayap town, Philippine National Police (Police) spokesperson Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr. said.

 

Masukat, who uses the aliases Datu Teng Ibrahim and Mustapha Ibrahim, carries a P250,000 bounty on his head, Cerbo added.

 

The PNP spokesman said the suspect was nabbed after the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) received a tip that Masukat will be heading towards Maguindanao on board a motorcycle.

 

“He did not resist when he was blocked and his arrest was announced,” Cerbo said.

 

Masukat is the 106th suspect to be arrested for the killing of 58 people, mostly media personnel, in Ampatuan town on Nov. 23, 2009. The incident is considered the worst election-related violence in the Philippines. At least 198 people, including primary suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr., are currently being tried by a Quezon City court for multiple murder charges in relation to the massacre. Of the 198 suspects, 92 have been arraigned. All of them — including primary suspect Ampatuan and his father Andal Sr. — have pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder filed before them before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221.

 

Masukat is expected to be taken to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, where he will be detained along with other suspects in the Maguindano Massacre, Cerbo said. — with Andreo Calonzo/RSJ, GMA News