2 Army officials relieved for Maguindanao mess

Two military officials assigned in Maguindanao were relieved from their posts following allegations that they were remiss in their duties when the massacre of at least 57 people was carried out by militiamen linked to the Ampatuan family. Relieved were Col. Medardo Geslani, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade and Major Gen. Alfredo Cayton, chief of the 6th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. "Their relief will give way to an impartial and transparent investigation. This is also being done to erase all the doubts of the public as to the professionalism of these two officials," military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said in an interview with GMANews.TV on Friday. Interviewed later at Camp Aguinaldo, Brawner said the investigation will address complaints against the performance of both Cayton and Geslani. "Well, apparently there are complaints coming out. Complaints about their alleged inefficiency or yung inaction nila. Now we will be conducting that investigation so that we will remove or erase from the minds of the people any doubt as to the investigation that we will be doing." Geslani and Cayton were allegedly responsible for the security lapses that had caused some 100 militiamen in Ampatuan town to go unnoticed as they killed and buried passengers of a six-vehicle convoy, en route to the Commission on Elections office in neighboring Shariff Aguak. At least 57 people, including members of the Mangudadatu clan, two lawyers, and at least 29 journalists were killed in what was believed to be an election-related crime allegedly perpetrated by gunmen linked to the Ampatuans. [See: Witnesses point to Andal Jr. as ‘commander’ in slaughter] "But they [the Army officials] are not suspects. No criminal charges had been filed against them," Brawner said, adding that Geslani and Cayton - though not restricted in their freedom of movement - would be asked to stay in Manila while investigation is ongoing. Asked why the relief order came just now or four days after the incident, Brawner said: "The relief was only effective today [Friday] because we could not change the commanders in the middle of an on-going operation. If you will remember, just yesterday [Thursday] at 4:30 a.m., our troops were ordered to occupy the Capitol of Maguindanao and the municipal halls of Shariff Aguak and Ampatuan." "These commanders implemented that order," Brawner added. The two military officials' relief came around the time that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno the free hand to suspend local government, police, and military officials in Maguindanao following the November 23 carnage. [See: Fate of Maguindanao execs depends on Puno] Puno was also given full supervisory powers over the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. He said he wanted to place under preventive suspension acting Gov. Sajid Ampatuan - son of Ampatuan clan chief Andal Ampatuan Sr - as well as all the provinces' mayors, and have them investigated. Almost 400 members of the armed civilian auxiliary in the province - originally created to augment government forces in fighting off rebels - had also been deactivated and are being investigated due to reports that they had a hand in the killings. The Philippine National Police had earlier taken the lead in relieving some of its officials in Mindanao, including a regional police director and the Maguindanao provincial police director, as well as all policemen in Ampatuan town, where the massacre happened. [See: PNP suspends permit to carry guns in Maguindanao] - MARK D. MERUEÑAS, ARCS/RSJ, GMANews.TV