Cops arrest suspect in murder of RRUC-ARMM exec director

COTABATO CITY -- Police authorities here announced the arrest last week of aman believed to have shot dead the executive director of the Regional Reconciliation and Reunification Commission of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).Senior Supt. Rolen Balquin, Cotabato City police director, told reportersthe suspect, identified as Nasser Bagundang Wahab, also known as Romnick Wahab, 30, was arrested by elements of the Cotabato City PNP and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in his house in Buliao 2, Cotabato City on April 7 based on the arrest warrant issued by the local court on charges of robbery with homicide without bail.Balquin said that based on witnesses accounts, Wahab was one of the two suspects in the murder of RRUC Director Norodin Manalao three weeks ago.Manalao was inside his vehicle waiting for his wife who went into marketing at the Cotabato City mega market when the gunman approached and opened fire on him.Balquin said witnesses pointed at Wahab as the gunman while his companion served as lookout on a motorbike both used as getaway vehicle.He said police investigators are still waiting for statement from the family of Manalao. The family is still mourning.But Wahab vehemently denied he was the gunmanin the Manalao murder.The death of the RRUC director whose main job was to settle diplomatically clan wars and family feuds involving Muslim families in the ARMM shocked regional officials.ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman as well as peace advocates in the region have condemned the murder of Manalao and urged the police to identify, arrest and prosecute the suspects and the brains behind the murder.Earlier, Cotabato City Mayor Japal Guiai Jr and members of the Cotabato City council have urged the local police to speed up the prosecution of shooting incidents in the city.Aside from Manalao, the police is focusing its investigation on the murder of a private school principal last month.