Police linked to Maguindanao massacre bolts jail

A retired police colonel implicated in the Nov. 23 massacre of more than 50 people in Maguindanao province has escaped from detention in Sultan Kudarat, the spokesperson for the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Wednesday. Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina said an investigation is ongoing to determine if some jail guards are involved in the escape of retired Superintendent Piang Adam, the former provincial director of Maguindanao Police. "He was reported missing at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Based on the records, he [Adam] was placed under the custody of a certain jail guard Tahak Kadalum at 7 a.m. on Tuesday and he was last seen at 4 p.m. on the same day," said Espina. Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna, director of the Central Mindanao regional police, has ordered that all the jail guards at the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Jail be placed under investigation. "General Cataluna has already flashed an alarm to all police units in the region for his [Adam] immediate recapture. Investigation is now also being conducted against all the jail guards," Espina said. The Sultan Kudarat Provincial Jail is under the supervision of the provincial government, which appoints and employs its jail warden and jail guards. Adam was detained for the possession of firearms believed to have been used in the grisly killing of 57 people, including 32 journalists, in Ampatuan town. Espina said joint police and military operatives raided the house of Adam in President Qurino town in December last year where several firearms and explosive materials were recovered. The official said Adam was hauled off to the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Jail since illegal possession of explosive materials is a non-bailable offense. "The firearms seized from him are now being subjected to ballistics examination to determine if some of them were used in the massacre," Espina said. Several members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, including its patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and some of his sons, have been arrested and facing trial for the Nov. 23 massacre, considered as one of the worst case of political violence in the country. - KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV