[Straits Times] A MANILA court issued formal arrest warrants on Thursday for 189 people suspected in the election-related massacre of 57 people last year, the country's largest murder case since World War II war crime trials.Most of the suspects are former government-armed militiamen and police loyal to a powerful clan blamed for the slayings.
The court also issued commitment orders which directed police to continue detaining seven others, including clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and several of his sons, who were arrested without formal warrants on suspicion of plotting the Nov. 23 massacre in southern Maguindanao province, state prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera said.
Among those covered by the arrest warrants are 47 police officers who were placed in custody after being suspended by the national police for alleged involvement in the killings, said Francisco Don Montenegro, chief of the national police investigation and detection group.
The 142 others still at large include 99 former militiamen loyal to the clan, 16 police officers and four soldiers, Montenegro said.
Days after the massacre, police arrested Andal Ampatuan Jr. and filed multiple murder charges against him. He was the only person formally charged until prosecutors filed an indictment against his father and 195 others in February. However, arrest warrants were not issued at that time because prosecutors needed time to complete the gathering of evidence and witnesses against them.