Maguindanao massacre backhoe operator arrested

On the third anniversary of the gruesome Maguindanao massacre, another suspect in the crime - the operator of the backhoe that dug the victims' grave - was arrested in North Cotabato.

 

Police took into custody Bong Andal following two to three months of surveillance operations, radio dzBB reported early Sunday.

 

Cotabato police chief Senior Superintendent Roque Alcantara was quoted in the report as saying Andal was arrested after visiting his wife.

 

He allegedly admitted before investigators that he was the driver of the backhoe but denied it before media, the dzBB report said.

 

On Friday, another suspect in the massacre was arrested while mingling with families and friends of some victims marking the third anniversary of the massacre.

 

At least 58 people, including 32 media workers, were brutally killed and buried in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009.

 

The incident sparked international outrage even as Malacañang was criticized for the supposedly slow pace of the case.

 

But Malacañang made a new pitch for live TV coverage of the trial so the public may know the progress of the case. — ELR, GMA News