COTABATO CITY -- Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said Sunday that a known politician is among the prime suspects in the blast that hit his convoy last August in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat.
The governor, however, preferred to withhold the identity of the politician until a proper case is filed in court.
"As soon as the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit would thoroughly establish all the necessary evidence and file the case in the court, that would be the time we could reveal him," he said.
Mangudadatu’s statement came after the bomber identified as Datu Karim Masdal, who was arrested minutes after the explosion, admitted to authorities that a known politician in the province masterminded the car bombing that hit the governor’s convoy.
The blast, which occurred around 3:20 p.m. of August 15, killed two people, including a provincial board member, and wounded several others. Mangudadatu, the alleged target of the bombing, was unhurt in the bombing.
The governor and his followers were heading to a restaurant to celebrate his 43rd birthday when the incident happened.
The bomber was positively identified by a tricycle driver who saw him at the scene just before the explosion.
In the meeting of Alliance of Iranun and Maguindanao (AIM) mayors of the seven member municipalities of the first district of Maguidanao in this city on Sunday, Mayor Datu Lester Sinsuat said the bombing was among the topics discussed.
"Security was among our topic, and with the new development on our quest for justice for my uncle and staunch ally Board Member Datu Russman Sinsuat, we feel better now. We will let justice now roll in the hands of the authorities," Sinsuat said.
Sinsuat, who chairs the AIM-7, is the nephew of the board member who was killed in the blast.
He said that as chosen leader of alliance, they also want to put an end to any rido (clan war) and other forms of conflict against fellow politicians or local leaders, aside from the development convergence that they want to push for the province.
They would try to settle conflicts with ruling families before these worsen into bloodshed, he added.
"Because sometimes our leaders are the main people involved in those conflicts," Sinsuat said.
The Maguindanao massacre, which took place in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan in Maguindanao on November 23, 2009, was blamed on political violence involving two big clans in the province -- the Mangudadatus and Ampatuans.
Mangudadatu’s wife Genalyn intended to file her husband’s certificate of candidacy at the provincial capitol in Shariff Aguak on that day. She was accompanied by female members of the Mangudadatu clan, their female lawyers and several mediamen. All were killed.
Next month will be the second anniversary of the massacre. (Ferdinand H. Cabrera/Sun.Star Davao)
