Military spokesman Lt. Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said in a press conference that Renelo Creita alias Kumander Jaguar was arrested Saturday night at a checkpoint in Sto. Tomas town in Davao del Norte province.

“Among the revelation of Renelo Creita is that he masterminded the Maragusan ambush that left five dead,” Burgos said.

Creita, who was passing the checkpoint on foot, did not resist arrest, Burgos added.

The ambushed convoy was about to deliver election paraphernalia for the May 10 election when it was attacked. Aside from the five killed, it left nine soldiers and 3 poll watchers wounded.

Last Monday, according to a military spokesperson, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will be on a red alert all over the country red alert starting Friday. This rank of situation is the highest security status — in preparation for the upcoming May polls.

Col. Ricardo Nepomuceno of the military’s Task Force Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections (HOPE) said to reporters yesterday, the red alert status will remain lifted until May 20 which was declared ten days ahead of the polls.

“We want to be prepared, especially since that [period] covers the time of the delivery of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines. We want to make sure that we are monitoring what’s happening to the PCOS,” he said.

The entire military officers are required to be on their posts at all times upon declaration of a red alert status. The Commission on Elections (Comelec), through three forwarding companies, began delivering the poll machines to precincts in the Visayas and Mindanao previously this month. Over half of the PCOS machines have been delivered to their respective hubs, the poll body declared last Monday.

“We are monitoring that (transport of the PCOS machines) but the responsibility of the transportation lies with the Comelec-designated forwarders but we are assisting them. We are securing them,” said Nepomuceno.

Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales had previously positioned the Armed Forces at the full disposal of the Comelec to guarantee the peaceful conduction of elections in May.

“The military officers responsible for the unlawful diversion of the government firearms and ammunitions must be punished,” former secretary Gibo Teodoro told reporters Tuesday.

The administration’s presidential bet also stated that the AFP should unveil the outcomes of its investigation into the said activity of military weaponry. The Arm Forces of the Philippines asserts that the Ampatuans had kept a huge number of firearms totaling to 1,500 in their private armory. Also, the 900 weapons had been accounted during the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao in early December 2009.

A number of the recovered weapons when the government placed Maguindanao under martial law after the inhumane killings of 57 people in the province, it was reported that these weapons were sealed with figures that read “Department of National Defense (DND) Arsenal. Philip Pantojan, A lawyer of the Ampatuan clan, wants Gibo Teodoro charged for allegedly allowing the Ampatuans’ private army to get weapons under his authority as defense secretary. However, there was no solid evidence and it was just a strong allegation to Teodoro.

On the other hand, Teodoro’s camp strongly contradicted the accusations in arming the Ampatuan clan. Gibo explained that Pantojan’s claims were “without basis.” Also, Teodoro urged AFP Chief Gen. Victor Ibrado to guarantee that the people’s trust in the military institution continues despite the different rumors being thrown against the presidential candidate.