Director General Jesus Verzosa of the Philippine National Police has ordered the replacement of all policemen assigned in Maguindanao in connection with the brutal massacre of 57 civilians allegedly on orders of a powerful political clan in the province last month.

Police and military authorities in Cotabato City meanwhile have mounted a region-wide manhunt against a police official who was tagged to have participated in the November 23 massacre in Ampatuan town.

Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina, PNP spokesman, said a total of 1,092 officers from the lowest rank of Police Officer 1 to the highest rank of Senior Superintendent in the 22 towns of Maguindanao will be replaced to give way to an impartial investigation of the massacre.

The PNP leadership earlier relieved all the policemen assigned in Ampatuan town for possible collusion with the perpetrators of the gruesome killings as it is in the area where the massacre occurred.

An average of 20 policemen is assigned in Ampatuan, Shariff Aguak, and Datu Unsay towns.

Among those relieved were Senior Supt. Abusana Maguid, Maguindanao provincial director officer-in-charge and his deputy, Chief Insp. Sukarno Dicay, who was already recommended as witness by the government to pin down five members of the Ampatuan clan being linked to the carnage.

Chief Supt. Felicisimo Khu, head of Task Force 12-Alpha, said Chief Insp. Saudi Mokamad, head of the 1507th police provincial mobile group, has been missing and has not showed up at the police regional office in Maguindanao and is considered a massacre suspect.

Investigators have tagged Mokamad as among those who flagged down the convoy of vehicles that led to the seizure and killing of at least 57 people, including dozens of reporters and two human rights lawyers.

Cotabato police director Sr. Supt. Willie Dangane said government agents raided the house of Mokamad in Bagua, Cotabato City last Monday morning and seized an M-16 rifle, several magazines and military paraphernalia.

Investigators said most of the firearms used in the massacre were believed hidden in the house but the raid yielded only a rifle.

"We are running after him; he went into hiding but in due time he will have to face the charges against him," Dangane said.

Col. Jonathan Ponce, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson, said several firearms have been confiscated from local officials and ordinary citizens during inspection along portions of the Cotabato-Isulan highway in Maguindanao.

Lawyer Reynaldo Esmeralda of the National Bureau of Investigation for his part said the bureau’s investigation does not end with Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and four of his relatives.

Ampatuan Jr. has already been charged with multiple murder along with his nephew Ulo Ampatuan, his brother Mamasapano town Mayor Bahnarin Ampatuan, Salibo town vice mayor Kanor Ampatuan, Muhamad Sanki, Tammy Masukat and PO 1 Abbey Guiaden, Datu Unsay town police chief.

“It will not end with Ampatuan Jr. and as long as we uncover evidence to implicate other persons, then we will indict them,” he said.

Meanwhile, relatives and followers of the embattled Ampatuan clan rejoiced over a report from Cotabato City that three of their seven leaders, whom the Justice Department earlier considered suspects in the massacre, have not been included in the charge sheets.

“They shouted words of joy as soon as Attorney Cynthia Guaini-Sayadi read a text message loud that former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., his son ARMM Governor Zaldy Uy Ampatuan and grandson Mayor Saudi Ampatuan Jr. were free of the case,” Aladdin Ampatuan told the Bulletin.

Main suspect Ampatuan Jr. surrendered last week and has since been detained at the NBI office in Manila. At least 27 murder charges have been filed by government prosecutors in Cotabato City against him.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines for its part said it is not restricting the movements of ARMM Governor Ampatuan and members of the clan.

"That is their impression but the military is definitely not restricting their movements," Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson, said of complaints by the Ampatuans that they were not allowed to leave their homes in Shariff Aguak.

Prosecutors and judges in Cotabato City meanwhile have been urged not to be cowed by threats and intimidation by the massacre suspects. (With reports from Nonoy Lacson, Jeamma Sabate, Ali Macabalang, and Edmer Panesa)