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Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Batasan blast suspect escapes police custody
MANILA -- A suspect-turned-state witness in the November 2007 bombing of the House of Representatives building in Quezon City disappeared Monday from a detention facility inside the national police headquarters.
Agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), the unit in custody of Ikram Indama, a member of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, were in a frantic search in various places Monday to include the house of Anak Mindanao Representative Mujiv Hataman.
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The House of Representatives bombing on November 13, 2007 killed six persons, including Basilan Representative Wahab Akbar, and injured 12 others. Investigators have linked former Basilan congressman Abdulgani "Gerry" Salapuddin to the incident.
Also killed in the blast were Julasiri Niki Huyudini, a member of Akbar’s staff; Marcial Taldo, driver of Gabriela party-list Representative Luzviminda Ilagan; Vercita Garcia; and Dennis Manila and Maan Gale Bustalino, both members of the staff of Negros Oriental Representative Henry Pryde Teves.
Teves and Ilagan were among those injured in the incident.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Jesus Verzosa ordered a thorough investigation into the disappearance of Indama.
CIDG Director Raul Castaneda said Indama disappeared from their custody at 6 a.m. Monday. Castaneda said Indama was last seen by his custodian at 5 a.m. “He took a bath and around 5:30 or 6 a.m., he was no longer around,” he said.
CIDG spokesman Felix Vargas said Indama’s disappearance came a week after he was transferred to the CIDG custody from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
"He (Indama) was in protective custody and was not being treated as a suspect because his application as a witness was provisionally granted by the DOJ,” said Vargas.
Castaneda hinted that heads will roll for the disappearance of Indama. "There is culpability here," he said.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. said the custodial officers at the CIDG detention center should be relieved following the escape of Indama.
Gonzalez said the custodial officers are obviously remiss in their duties that enabled the witness to bolt free. He said they are liable for infidelity in the custody of prisoners and negligence, with a corresponding prison term of six to 12 years.
He added that the police are responsible for the escape of Indama.
“(Indama) is their (guards) command responsibility… That has to be investigated. Meanwhile, the policemen (guarding him) should be investigated first, they should be relieved from duty,” he said.
Last December, the DOJ found probable cause to indict Indama, Caidar Aunal and Adham Kusain for multiple murder and obstruction of justice. The case was lodged before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.
Indama was considered the principal suspect in the Batasan blast allegedly meant to kill Akbar.
According to Gonzalez, Indama was provisionally accepted under the witness protection program (WPP) of the DOJ although technically, he has not yet been discharged by the CIDG as one of the suspects. His admission at the WPP is set to expire on December 10.
He said Indama may only be accepted as state witness once he is dropped as one of the suspects.
“There was an arrangement that he will be placed under the WPP to be certain that should he be discharged, he would be placed under protection immediately,” he said.
In seeking to turn state witness, Indama alleged in his extrajudicial confession that the plot was hatched at the Greenbucks Grocery Store owned by Salapuddin, and that he also brought the motorcycle armed with the bomb to the Batasan complex to carry out the assassination plot.
Gonzalez said Indama’s escape may have ruined his chances of attaining state-witness status as questions about his credibility arose.
“His credibility may be tainted now. He’s always been a suspect, that’s why he is not at the WPP. He has not yet been discharged by the CIDG. He is quite important. He definitely has knowledge of the incident. I cannot fathom the motive but certainly, somebody has been instrumental in his escape. And who will want him out as a witness? Somebody that must be adversely affected by his testimony,” he said.
The DOJ, however, could not yet say how Indama’s escape would affect the pending case.
Hataman, meanwhile, questioned the move of the CIDG for barging into his residence in Quezon City to look for Indama.
Hataman said he was working that time and he only knew about the incident when his wife called him.
He said he could not understand why police have to go to his home given that the DOJ had already declared that there was no evidence linking him to the bombing that killed Akbar and three others.
“Despite the no probable cause resolution of the prosecutor, the CIDG is still suspicious,” he added. (VR/ECV/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (October 7, 2008 issue)
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