Rewards will be given to anyone who can provide information that will lead to the arrest of 76 Maguindanao massacre suspects who remain at large, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) announced.
In a press statement, the PTFoMS said the Philippine National Police (PNP) continues to pursue intensified manhunt operations against the fugitives, despite the threat posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The Operations Management Division of the Police Security and Protection Group (PSPG) has released a memorandum that directs the publication of photos of the suspects using television, the internet, and the media.
A reward of P300,000 each awaits tipsters who can help arrest of Datu Bahnarin Ampatuan, one of the 76 suspects who are still at large.
Meanwhile, authorities promised to give a bounty of P250,000 each for the capture of the other suspects.
In December 2019, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 sentenced Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr., Zaldy Ampatuan, Anwar Ampatuan Sr., and several others to life imprisonment without parole due to the mass murder of 58 people in Maguindanao province on November 23, 2009.
Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar, who concurrently serves as co-chairperson of PTFoMS, promised a relentless manhunt for the other Maguindanao massacre suspects.
“We do not neglect and forget our other priorities and targets.”
“We do not neglect and forget our other priorities and targets just because of a national emergency where PNP personnel are also front-liners. This is just the beginning of the end for these fugitives from the law. Let me reiterate that the PNP, just like the PTFoMS, is a proactive organization that takes its job very seriously,” Andanar said.
PTFoMS executive director Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco also ensured that the task force is “on top of the situation.”
Sy Egco said the PTFoMS is in close coordination with the PNP to ensure the successful arrest of the fugitives.
“The PTFoMS will stop at nothing in fulfilling our mandate and commitment to our media workers.”
“As I have mentioned time and again, the PTFoMS and our member-agencies like the PNP, will stop at nothing in fulfilling our mandate and commitment to our media workers,” the communications official said.
“We are relentless in our pursuit to bring all suspects in the gruesome Maguindanao massacre to justice,” he concluded.