The principal suspect in the grisly killing of 57 people in the southern Philippines surrendered Thursday to a senior aide of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who has been criticized for her government's timid response to the carnage.Police immediately filed a criminal complaint of multiple murder against Datu Andal Ampatuan Junior,
Andal Junior was whisked to General Santos City, 1,065 kilometres south of Manila, after his family turned him over to presidential aide Jesus Dureza in Shariff Aguak town in nearby Maguindanao province.
He maintained his innocence in the mass killing, which occurred on Monday in Salman village in the province's Ampatuan town. "I have no involvement," he said three times shortly after arriving in General Santos City.
"The charges are baseless," he added. "They are not true. My conscience is clear." He was flown to Manila aboard a private plane and was taken to the National Bureau of Investigation where he would be detained.
Justice Secretary Agnes Devenadera said state prosecutors would decide within 36 hours whether or not they would bring the case against Andal Junior to court. "There should have been many more in the Ampatuan family who should have been taken into custody," said Madasser Mangundadatu, who lost several female relatives in the massacre.
Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said he would request the presidential office to suspend key provincial officials of Maguindanao, including Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan Senior, to investigate their possible involvement in the massacre.
"The objective is to have all officials directly or indirectly related to this crime be removed from their offices on preventive suspension pending criminal cases that may be filed against anyone," he said.
Four police officers from Maguindanao have already been suspended and were also taken to Manila on Thursday for questioning about their alleged complicity in the crime. Presidential spokesman Cerge Remonde said the surrender and the filing of charges against Andal Junior was just the beginning of government efforts to bring to justice the perpetrators of the heinous crime.