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By Ruben D. Manahan 4th, Reporter
A witness to the murder of a poll
official expressed shock and feared for her life upon learning that
the alleged killer had escaped from detention.
Police Officer Basser Ampatuan,
the suspect in the fatal shooting of Alioden Dalaig last year, was
reported to have vanished Monday after using a toilet at Camp Bagong
Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City, Metro Manila.
The witness, Marissa, told The
Manila Times also on Monday that authorities should now beef up her
security.
She claimed that police did not
inform her about Ampatuan’s jailbreak, only getting wind of it
from television and a reporter who informed her about it.
“I could not sleep since,”
Marissa said. She also claimed that Ampatuan had been allowed to
escape.
Ampatuan, 36, of the Shariff
Kabunsuan Provincial Police Office in Sultan Kudarat in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, has been held since his arrest
on April 15 at the office of Senior Supt. Co Yee Co Jr., commander
of Camp Bagong Diwa. Dalaig was killed on November 10, 2007.
“He [Ampatuan] knows who I am.
If not Ampatuan himself who would be hunting me, he can use his
connections as a policeman to look for me, or worse, kill me,”
Marissa also told The Times in Filipino.
Shaking and sobbing, she said she
regretted telling the authorities what she had witnessed. “I wish
I did not tell the police what I knew about the [killing of Dalaig]
if I knew that my life would not be normal [anymore].
Marissa, who is under the custody
of the Manila Police District, said Ampatuan might be hiding
somewhere in Taguig City.
Dominador Arevalo of the police
district’s homicide unit revealed that Dalaig’s family had
contacted him and also expressed fears for their safety.
“I told them that in case there
are unusual persons roaming their area, they could contact me
immediately and I will send people to their place,” he said.
Arevalo added that he was
saddened upon hearing about Ampatuan’s disappearaance. “This
would cause a delay in our justice system regarding the case,” he
said.
Arevalo, though, assured that
Marissa would be safe under the custody of the Manila Police
District and that the safest place for her is to be with them.
“Why is she scared? We are giving her enough security here,” he
said.
Arevalo added that they are
processing Marissa’s application to the government’s witness
protection program. Approval of the application will transfer
custody of the witness to the Department of Justice.
Ampatuan, who was arrested in
Shariff Kabunsuan, was facing an administrative case when he went
missing. His wife filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on
April 25 but Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Virgilio Macaraeg
junked it.
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