Maguindanao Massacre Suspect Wounded, Captured After Clash With Troops

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato — A suspect in the “Maguindanao Massacre” was wounded and captured when his group clashed with government troops in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Saturday, local authorities said.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) based in Maguindanao said reported Sunday that one gunman was killed in an encounter and that one of those wounded was a certain Tammy Talimbong, a suspect in the Maguindanao Massacre case.

An Army official identified as Captain Louie Male of the 45th Infantry Battalion was also wounded during the clash.

Male was leading a team in patrolling the highway in Manungkaling district in Mamasapano town when they encountered Talimbong’s group.

The soldiers were sent to the area to guard the residents from a group of armed men reported to police.

When authorities had Talimbong’s identity checked, they found out the suspect was a former member of the so-called Ampatuan militia and is among those wanted in the Maguindanao massacre in 2009 in which 58 people, mostly journalists, were killed.

Talimbong was placed in the custody of CIDG, reports said.

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Malu Cadelina Manar | Manila Bulletin | February 17, 2013 | Article Link

Police: 2nd bomb found near Maguindanao massacre site

Hours after an explosion was reported on Wednesday near the site of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, a bomb was found near the place where 58 people were killed exactly two years ago.

Maguindanao police chief Senior Superintendent Marcelo Pintac said the an explosive was found two kilometers (km) away from the memorial site built for the victims of the November 23, 2009 massacre in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao.

"Malapit ito nang kaunti ... mga 2 km along the way to the commemoration site," he said in an interview over radio dzBB.

Earlier, a blast was reported five kilometers from the site where the brutal murders occurred.

Pintac said they conducted a "deeper paneling" or investigation after the first blast was reported.

Based on their initial findings, the initial explosion was not meant to harm people, Pintac said.

"Yung sumabog kanina hindi intended to harm anybody ... walang shrapnel, hindi ito meant to hurt anyone," he said.

At least 57 people, 32 of them journalists, were murdered in Ampatuan town in 2009. A 58th victim is still missing. - VVP, GMA News

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11/23/2011 | 09:40 AM

Link

NCR cops on alert for Maguindanao massacre's 2nd anniversary

Police in Metro Manila were placed on high alert for activities marking the second anniversary of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

The Metro Manila police secured Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City where many of the suspects in the case are detained, radio dzBB's Sam Nielsen reported.

Also on alert at Camp Bagong Diwa are personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the report said.

On the other hand, police are also on alert for protest actions expected from various groups marking the second anniversary of the massacre.

Several groups, including cause-oriented and journalist organizations, had scheduled activities on Wednesday to call for an end to impunity.

More than 50 people were killed, 32 of them journalists, in the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao.

The report noted police are also securing Wednesday's court hearing on the case.

For Wednesday, the report said the prosecution plans to present a witness who can testify on a "grand conspiracy" that led to the killing. — LBG, GMA News

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11/23/2011 | 08:23 AM

Link

Blast mars 2nd anniversary of Maguindanao massacre

An early morning blast marred the second anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre, five kilometers from the site where the brutal murders occurred.

Maguindanao police head Superintendent Marcelo Pintac cited initial reports indicating the incident occurred near a gas station shortly before 6 a.m. in Ampatuan town.

"We are still in the area. But initially there was no report of fatalities. We are still investigating the incident," Pintac said in an interview on dzBB radio.

He said the site of the blast was some five kilometers away from a monument built in memory of the massacre victims.

When asked if there had been sightings of men acting suspiciously in the area before the blast, he said there were none.

Pintac declined to comment on the cause of the blast, saying police teams were still investigating it.

At least 58 people, 32 of them journalists, were murdered in Ampatuan town on Nov. 23, 2009. The incident sparked international outrage. — LBG, GMA News

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11/23/2011 | 07:44 AM

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Ampatuans tried to secure amnesty for cache of guns

Just a few weeks after the Nov. 23, 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, where 58 people including 32 journalists were executed in a remote barangay in Ampatuan town, officials of the Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were surprised to receive a deluge of applications for gun amnesty from one particular province in Mindanao.

Every once in a while, the national government offers a gun amnesty to the general public. These amnesty offers are a general pardon of sorts, where people with loose or unlicensed firearms are allowed to have illegal guns licensed and registered in their names.

But this batch of applications raised a red flag among officials of the PNP-FED, the agency tasked with regulating gun ownership and use in the country.

First of all, almost all the new applications originated from Maguindanao province, where the massacre occurred.

Secondly, the applicants were mostly members of the local civilian volunteer organizations, or CVOs, the local militia. Interestingly, members of Maguindanao’s CVOs, who owed loyalty to the Ampatuan clan, had been implicated in the massacre.

Third, many of the firearms were the highly-priced Bushmaster M4A3, a variant of the M4 carbine used by many special forces units. Just a few years earlier, the Ampatuan clan, through the Maguindanao provincial government, had purchased 50 Bushmasters through gun trader Crisostomo Aquino, allegedly to fight the terrorist threat in the province. The end users of the Bushmasters, priced at P120,000 each, were supposed to be members of the Maguindanao PNP.

Sr. Superintendent Danilo Maligalig, then operations chief of the PNP-FED, recalls that this batch of amnesty applications, “numbering around a hundred," immediately caught the attention of firearms regulators.

The gun amnesty, provided for through Executive Order 817 signed by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in June 2009 as part of the National Firearms Control Program (NFCP), had expired on Nov. 30, 2009, or a few days before this batch of amnesty applications swamped the FED.

From cops to CVOs

“Sinubukan nilang ipahabol ang mga ito (They tried to get this past us)," Maligalig recalls.

Maligalig says investigation by the FED later showed that these firearms were the same guns issued to the Maguindanao PNP to fight the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and other armed groups in the region.

But police officials were puzzled how these firearms found their way to the CVOs, who then tried to acquire legal possession of them through the firearms amnesty program. What made the applications all the more unusual was the fact that the guns had never even been declared lost by the local PNP in the first place.

To Maligalig and other FED officials, this much was clear: firearms meant for the government arsenals had found their way to armed groups loyal to the Ampatuans.

Too, the clan appeared to be scrambling to save its arsenal and retain its armed might in the wake of the government crackdown against the firepower of the Ampatuans.

But more importantly, it was a sign of how the Ampatuan clan, like other well-armed political families, may have mastered the art of finding and taking advantage of apparent loopholes in firearms laws and amnesty programs in order to build, arm, and maintain a parallel arsenal that rivals even that of the national government’s.

At the same time, it put into question the entire firearms regulation system, including the fact that some state agencies such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deem themselves exempt from such rules.

Alarming findings

Maligalig says that FED officials immediately suspended that batch of firearms amnesty applications while a probe was underway.

The results of the probe were alarming.

Maligalig, who acted as vice chairman of the investigating committee formed by the FED, said they found that many of the firearms bought with government funds supposedly for the local PNP were really meant to be used by the Ampatuan militia.

Under PNP rules, local governments may purchase firearms for the use of the local police force. These purchases are, however, covered by an end-user certificate, which specifies who the firearm’s real user is. In the case of the Bushmaster carbines, the guns were supposed to go straight to police officers assigned in Maguindanao.

“The guns were meant for the local police of Maguindanao, in fact the memorandum receipts (MR) were in the name of the policemen assigned," says Maligalig. “Pero pirma lang ‘yun (But these were just signatures on paper.) The actual distribution of the guns was made to the militia members."

He says that a closer scrutiny of the firearms applications showed that some of the CVO members applying for gun amnesty were in fact implicated in the Maguindanao Massacre itself.

Wanted-list pics

“If you look at the pictures on the wanted list," says Maligalig, “these were the same pictures in the amnesty applications."

A number of these CVO members were later arrested and have been included in the Maguindanao Massacre case now pending before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

Maligalig says it appeared that the clan had ordered militia members to have these high-powered firearms placed under the amnesty program, in order to spare them from confiscation by the government.

“When things got hairy, they (the Ampatuans) attempted to have their firearms placed under the amnesty program," Maligalig tells the PCIJ. “Pinangalan lang ang mga baril sa mga militia (They just tried to have the guns registered in the name of their milita members)."

In all, some 1,200 firearms were reported by the AFP to have been unearthed, confiscated, or recovered in Maguindanao province following the Maguindanao Massacre, according to AFP spokesmen in 2010.

Most of these firearms were old and obsolete firearms usually issued to members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGUs) and CVOs, the so-called force multipliers authorized through Executive Order 546 signed by then President Gloria Arroyo in July 2006.

High-powered metal

A number of these recovered firearms, however, are clearly high-powered and high-end. Among the firearms recovered, as listed by the Mindanao-based news cooperativeMindanews, were:

• Four 60-mm mortars with ammunition;
• Two 81-mm mortars;
• A 90-mm recoilless rifle (actually a misnomer. The recoilless rifle fires a shaped charge that can punch a hole through armored vehicles);
• A 57-mm recoilless rifle;
• One Barrett sniper rifle (a specialized sniper weapon that delivers a half-inch slug with an effective range of 1.8 kilometers. The model recovered was a civilian version, although Barrett sniper rifles are normally not sold to private individuals but only to governments);
• Three M60 light machine guns (the standard machine gun of the AFP and the PNP);
• One .50 caliber heavy machine gun, also capable of punching holes in armored vehicles; and
• Various high-powered rifles and handguns

Of these firearms, some 300 guns were turned over to the PNP Region 12 crime laboratory in General Santos City on suspicion that they were directly involved in the Maguindanao Massacre. So far, four of these confiscated guns have already been matched with slugs recovered from the victims and the site, according to Task Force Maguindanao head Chief Superintendent Benito Estipona. It is not clear if any of these firearms were part of the batch that CVOs tried to have registered under the amnesty program.

One long, one short

As a general rule, the country’s laws regulating firearms ownership limits the number of firearms owned by private citizens to “one long, one short," or one rifle and one pistol.

In addition, private citizens are only allowed to own bolt-action or semi-automatic rifles with caliber no larger than .22 of an inch. The usual exemption is for gun club members, who are allowed a maximum of 10 rifles, but only “for sporting use."

Yet according to the findings of the lifestyle check conducted by Deputy Ombudsman Humphrey Monteroso on the Ampatuan assets and submitted by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to the Court of Appeals, the Ampatuan clan has at least 157 firearms of various calibers registered in the PNP-FED’s Firearms Identification Management System (FIMS) masterfile.

Of these 157 registered firearms, 23 are listed under the name of Andal Salibo Ampatuan Sr., and 26 under the name of Zaldy Uy Ampatuan. Eighteen guns are registered under the name of Andal Uy Ampatuan Jr., while another 15 are registered in the name of his brother Anwar.

(An earlier report by the PCIJ, quoting PNP-FED officials, pegged the number of firearms registered to members of the Ampatuan clan at 271, distributed among 103 persons with the surname Ampatuan.)

How then were the Ampatuans able to register so many firearms under their names?

Big cache of guns

Current officials of the PNP-FED refused repeated requests by the PCIJ for an interview. But Police Chief Superintendent Ricardo Marquez, executive officer of the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management, says “the only way I can think of" how the clan was able to pull off such a feat is through the numerous amnesty programs offered over the years. This is because under the amnesty program, an applicant can register any number of firearms.

Marquez says even long firearms are included in the amnesty program. “The (limit) of only one-long, one-short is effectively overruled (by the amnesty)," he adds.

Since 1992, the government has offered at least 12 amnesty programs that would enable holders of loose firearms to have them registered and legalized for a fee.

But there is yet one more apparent loophole in the amnesty program that allows gun owners to collect and legally own high-powered firearms. Under the country’s gun laws, private citizens are not allowed to own high-powered rifles of 5.56 mm or 7.62 mm. These are the calibers of the standard M-16 rifle and the M1 Garand or the M14 rifle used by the police and the military.

The various amnesty programs, though, allow applicants to own high-powered rifles so long as they do not exceed 7.62mm. This means an applicant for amnesty can, once approved, legally own his own arsenal of high-powered firearms that are not available to ordinary citizens.

‘Designer guns’

A quick inspection of the list of firearms registered under the names of the Ampatuans, meantime, also reveals a proclivity, not just for high-powered firearms, but for “designer guns," as described by one security consultant, as well.

Of the 23 firearms listed under his name, Andal Sr. owns an Israeli-made 5.56 Negev light machine gun, a belt-fed or drum-fed machine gun that is hardly for sporting use. The Israel Weapon Industries website describes the Negev as “a small, light weight advanced machine gun" that allows “accurate and fast controlled fire for close quarter battle or an automatic mode that allows maximum firepower."

In addition, Andal Sr. owns a Heckler and Koch MP7 submachine gun, a new generation of submachine guns whose 4.6mm bullets can punch holes through bulletproof vests. Manufacturer Heckler and Koch’s official website describes the MP7’s ammunition as capable of penetrating a bulletproof vest “comprised of 1.6mm titanium plates and 20 layers of Kevlar, out to 200 meters and beyond."

Andal Sr. also owns 18 pistols and three other high-powered rifles.

Not to be outdone, Zaldy Ampatuan owns a Negev light machinegun, two HK MP7 submachine guns, an HK UMP40 submachine gun, and two Israeli-made Tavor assault rifles, the same rifle now being issued to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). This is aside from the 11 pistols and one shotgun that he owns.

Andal Jr., for his part, has 18 registered firearms, according to PNP records. These range from an OAR 556 rifle to a 5.7 caliber Fabrique Nationale submachine gun.

Expensive buys

A gun expert consulted by the PCIJ calls these “designer guns" that are very expensive, and hard to come by. An MP7 can be purchased in the Philippines for P700,000 to P900,000 each because it is so rare, the expert says. The Tavor, with its bullpup design and built-in illuminated sights, can fetch anywhere from P600,000 to P700,000. A Negev light machinegun, because of its functionality, would be worth around P1.2M in the Philippine market, he says.

In an email reply to PCIJ’s written queries, Andal Ampatuan Sr.’s lawyer, Sigfrid Fortun, dismisses suggestions that the Ampatuans had used the amnesty programs to build up their weapons arsenal.

“Whether they used the Amnesty Program to legitimize their possession of these weapons is arguable," Fortun writes. “One thing is certain, though, when an unlicensed firearm is brought to the fold of the law and the PNP accepts it to license it, is this not far better than having loose firearms where the government does not even know exactly how many firearms one has in his possession? Now how can this submission to the fold of the law be immoral or illegal?"

Indeed, the argument is echoed by some police officials who see no problem with the liberal application of gun amnesty proclamations.

Marquez and Maligalig, for instance, both say it is better to encourage gun owners to have their loose firearms licensed, than to have these floating around unregistered.

Maligalig says the PNP-FED purposely made the amnesty proclamations more liberal “to ferret out" the loose firearms. He notes, “It was needed so that we could account all of those unrecorded."

“The aim is to get the firearms registered, get their ballistic characteristics, and stencil them so that when they are used in a crime, they can be traced to their owners," Marquez points out. “What’s the better situation, more guns that aren’t registered or have an amnesty program that has loose guns registered and stenciled?"

But he says there is an aspect of gun control that does need immediate attention. Over the years, he says, only civilians have been strictly following the letter of the law on firearms purchase and ownership. The likes of the AFP, effectively the biggest armed group in the country, apparently do not believe they have to follow such rules on firearms.

For example, Marquez says that firearms acquisitions made by AFP units outside of the regular arms dealers have largely been unregistered and unlicensed. Maligalig also says that AFP arms purchases go “undeclared."

Floating around

For this reason, there are firearms floating around in the grey area between formal military units and the local government militias that the government has no records of. As such, it is much easier for high-powered firearms supposedly destined for the AFP to disappear into a black hole of sorts.

“When firearms are bought from a dealer, they are automatically registered," says Marquez. “But when firearms are not acquired through that process, they are not registered. Some of the firearms of the AFP were through foreign military sales, so these were given directly to the AFP."

“Our suggestion," he says, “is for everybody’s firearms, especially government firearms, to be registered, and their records kept by the PNP, meaning ballistics records, stencils, etc."

But the paperwork for such a process would probably have to compete with those from local officials who seem to believe they have to have a formidable arsenal in order to govern.

They fancied guns

Lawyer Fortun, for one, describes that the Ampatuans are “public officials who, during their incumbency, fancied guns (like most Alpha males). This was public knowledge."

Yet he also defends the large number of firearms registered under the names of the Ampatuan family members by saying that the clan “was used by and had assisted the Government to fight the MILF."

“Unsay (Andal Jr.) was in the forefront of these armed encounters," Fortun says in his email reply to PCIJ’s queries. “They were the ‘stay-behind units’ after the army completed its assault on known MILF territories. They took over and held the ground after the army had returned to their secure camps, and they kept the area they held MILF-free."

According to Fortun, though, many of exotic firearms listed under the names of the Ampatuans were actually “gifts from constituents and others."

Curiously, a PCIJ report on the guns of the Ampatuan clan published in 2010 also mentioned the fondness of some Ampatuan family members to give guns as gifts as well. Former Maguindanao Martial Law administrator Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer had told the PCIJ that he had been offered one of the Tavor assault rifles of Zaldy Ampatuan as a gift a few weeks after the Maguindanao Massacre.

“Sir, kunin mo na lang, sa iyo na lang daw ang Tavor ni RG (Sir, just get it, RG’s Tavor is yours)," Ferrer recalls the aide of Zaldy as telling him over the phone.

On another occasion before the massacre, Ferrer recalled having received a brand new M4 assault rifle as a gift after a meeting with Zaldy Ampatuan. Ferrer said the gun was thrust on him by an Ampatuan aide while he was leaving.

A basic M4 assault rifle, without accessories, costs from $2,000 to 2,800 when purchased in bulk. – PCIJ, November 2011

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First of Two Parts

By ED LINGAO, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

11/23/2011 | 07:53 AM

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MILF, Kato clash in Maguindanao town

COTABATO CITY—Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) clashed with their erstwhile comrades in a Maguindanao town, sending residents fleeing and leaving behind a still undetermined number of casualties, the military said yesterday.

Col. Mayoralgo dela Cruz, head of the First Mechanized Infantry Brigade, said fighting broke out in Mamasapano town about 3 p.m. between members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and members of a breakaway Moro group led by renegade guerrilla leader Ameril Umra Kato.

Dela Cruz said the military was investigating the clash, adding casualties were reported on both sides.

The MILF group was led by a certain Adan, a guerrilla leader, according to Dela Cruz, who quoted Adan’s group as saying it was after a group of militiamen involved in the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre when the clash took place.

Abu Misri Mama, speaking for Kato’s Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), said the clash broke out when Banarin Ampatuan, grandson of Andal Ampatuan Sr., tried to reclaim with the help of Adan’s group parcels of land which the Ampatuans had acquired at the height of their power. Ampatuan Sr. is currently in jail facing charges of masterminding the Maguindanao massacre.

Mama said BIFM was just trying to help the real owner of the lands who claimed that these were forcibly taken from him by the Ampatuans.

The MILF, however, denied Adan was involved in the clash. Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political affairs, said an investigation should be conducted “to avoid speculation.”

Reports of vast tracts of land forcibly taken by the Ampatuans at the height of their power should also be investigated, said Jaafar.

At the site of the massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, men working on preparations for the second anniversary of the massacre dug up a faded media ID card and bullet casings for M-14 and M-16 rifles.

A building and a concrete marker with the names of the massacre victims are being rushed in time for the massacre anniversary on Nov. 23.

Charlie C. Señase, Inquirer Mindanao

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Source

Andal Ampatuan Jr. carried out massacre, says witness

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/182584/andal-ampatuan-jr-carried-out-massacre-says-witness

SOPHIA M. DEDACE, GMANews.TV

01/27/2010 | 01:34 PM

Andal Ampatuan Jr. carried out the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province last November 23, having ordered victims to lie face down and later checking their faces one by one before they were brought to a nearby hill and gunned to death.

The Datu Unsay town mayor's black pick-up was at the scene of the bloodbath, with two women forced to enter the vehicle at one point before the killings, witness Mohammad Sangki told a Quezon City court on Wednesday.

Mohammad, a Sangguinang Bayan official in Datu Abdullah Sangki town in Maguindanao, corroborated the testimony of his nephew, Amapatuan town Vice-Mayor Rasul Sangki, who took the witness stand two weeks ago.

The court is hearing multiple murder charges against Ampatuan Jr., who has applied for bail.

In his testimony, Mohammad claimed to have received a call on November 19 from Datu Bahnarin Ampatuan — Ampatuan Jr.'s brother and mayor of Mamasapano town — ordering him to deploy a police auxiliary force in Crossing Saniag until December 2.

Crossing Saniag is in Ampatuan town, an area two minutes away from the Sitio Malating checkpoint where the convoy led by the wife of Buluan Vice Mayor Ismael "Toto" Mangudadatu was ambushed last November 23.

Police deployment

Mohammad Sangki said Bahnarin had told him to coordinate with Tammy Masukat, a Sangguniang Bayan member in Mamasapano town, for the police deployment.

He told the court presided by Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes that Masukat had told him the police team was in preparation for the convoy coming from Buluan town.

A day later, on November 20, he and Masukat went to the home of Ampatuan Jr. in Shariff Aguak, where the mayor gave him P15,000 to buy food for the police team at Crossing Saniag.

During the weekend of November 21 and 22, Mohammad said he was with his family in Datu Odin Sinsuat town.

On the morning of November 23, the witness said he was surprised that several checkpoints had been set up in Ampatuan town.

He then went to the Sangguniang Bayan in Ampatuan town capitol, where he saw his nephew, Vice-Mayor Raul Sangki. The two went to Crossing Saniag, where they both saw Ampatuan Jr. with several armed men.

At about 10 a.m. that day, Mohammad and Rasul proceeded to Sitio Malating in a car to meet with Ampatuan Jr.'s group.

He said his nephew had told him that the convoy of the Mangudadatus was already there.

Mohammad said he saw two women being forced to enter Andal Jr.'s black pick-up.

He also said he saw the convoy's passengers being forced to lie face down, with Andal Jr. checking their faces one by one.

The convoy was later told to proceed to Sitio Malasay, two kilometers away from the checkpoint.

According to Mohammad, Rasul had told him to remain on the highway. Rasul then went with Ampatuan Jr. (See Andal Sr. hatched Nov. 23 massacre — witness)

After hearing successive gunfire for 30 minutes, Rasul returned and told him that the shooting had been orchestrated by Ampatuan Jr., Datu Kanor Ampatuan, Datu Bahnarin Ampatuan, a certain Datu Uka and the armed men they were with.

The trial was ongoing as of posting time.

Expected to testify later in the day is Toto Mangudadatu himself. It will be his first time to take the witness stand. His wife Genalyn was among those killed in the massacre.

Earlier in the day, Geoffrey Lizada of Smart Communications, Inc. authenticated the billing statement of Genalyn from November 17 to December 18, 2009.

Genalyn supposedly phoned her husband that she had seen Ampatuan Jr., his husband's political rival, among the men who had blocked the convoy. — NPA, RJAB Jr./GMANews.TV

Andal Jr. to face Mangudadatu at trial

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/182560/andal-jr-to-face-mangudadatu-at-trial

01/27/2010 | 09:15 AM

Andal Ampatuan Jr., the key suspect in the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao last November 23, appeared relaxed on Wednesday hours before his court showdown with the husband of one of the victims.

The mayor of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao smiled at media and even held up his handcuffs before being whisked before dawn to the venue of his ongoing trial.

Earlier, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said a prosecution witness would shake Ampatuan's camp at Wednesday's hearing.

"Our case is going smoothly and every week we present new evidence. Today we will present an eyewitness, an official from one of the Maguindanao towns, to shake up the defense," NBI spokesman and lawyer Ricardo Diaz told dwIZ radio in Filipino.

The mayor was also to have his first court confrontation with Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, whose wife Genalyn was among the victims of the gruesome Nov. 23 bloodbath.

Mangudadatu was expected to testify against the mayor's petition for bail.

A report on dwIZ radio said Ampatuan, wearing a pink polo and denim pants, appeared nonchalant at the NBI while a team checked his blood pressure.

The mayor was handcuffed and made to wear a bulletproof vest, as in past instances when he was whisked to the trial venue at Camp Crame.

Security remained tight for the mayor as he left the NBI headquarters in Manila towards the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame.

Radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported that the trip had taken some 14 minutes as the NBI, Manila Police District, and PNP Highway Patrol Group escorts cleared the path.

The convoy bearing the mayor arrived at Camp Crame before 6:30 a.m.

At Crame, dzBB's Sam Nielsen reported that 300 policemen were placed on full alert inside and outside the police camp.

Security was also tight for media, who were allowed to enter on a first-come-first-served basis.

Outside Camp Crame, Quezon City police were in full battle gear while yellow steel railings were placed near the two security gates. — NPA, GMANews.TV

Police witness in massacre case in trouble for going AWOL

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/182508/police-witness-in-massacre-case-in-trouble-for-going-awol

01/26/2010 | 04:48 PM

A police lieutenant considered as a potential witness in the Maguindanao massacre case is in hot water for going to the Justice Department office in Manila to seek protective custody without informing his custodians in Camp Crame about it.

Inspector Rex Ariel Diongon was reported missing last Friday and was declared Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL), according to Senior Superintendent Benito Estipona, deputy chief for operations of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

“We found out yesterday [Monday] that he is at the [Department of Justice] seeking protective custody under the witness protection program. [But] he was already declared AWOL so he might face administrative charges for not informing his custodians of his whereabouts," Estipona said.

Section 3, paragraph (d) of Republic Act No. 6981, however, states that a law enforcement officer cannot be admitted into the Witness Protection Program although the immediate members of his or her family may avail themselves of the protection provided for under the particular law.

ARMM police

Before learning of Diongon’s whereabouts, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Police (ARMM) Regional Police, which supervises his restriction, gave him until last Monday to surface.

Estipona said they turned Diongon over to the ARMM Police after getting his statements regarding the massacre.

Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, operations chief of the ARMM Police, said they immediately alerted their forces in the region upon learning of Diongon’s disappearance in Camp Crame.

"We have ordered police forces to search for Diongon and take him in custody immediately if he returns to Mindanao," he said, adding that his phone calls to Diongon were all left unanswered.

Diongon, commander of the 1508th Provincial Police Mobile Group, was among those manning the checkpoint where the ill-fated convoy in the massacre passed last Nov. 23. At least 57 people were killed in the carnage blamed on the powerful Ampatuan clan.

Diongon affidavit

Estipona said Diongon pinned Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. when the police officer executed his affidavit in connection with the November 23 massacre.

A total of 206 respondents, including 66 policemen, were recommended for filing of multiple murder charges with the DOJ in connection with the massacre. Of these, only three – Andal Jr. and militiamen Takpan Dilon and Esmael Canapia – have so far been formally charged by the department.

Dilon and Canapia, both members of the Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO), were charged after the firearms seized from them matched with the shells found in the massacre site. - with Al Jacinto/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV

Gibo dares Ampatuan lawyer: Sue me over weapons fiasco

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/182439/gibo-dares-ampatuan-lawyer-sue-me-over-weapons-fiasco

AIE BALAGTAS SEE, GMANews.TV

01/25/2010 | 09:08 PM

Administration presidential bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Monday dared the lawyer of the Ampatuan family to charge him in court over his alleged involvement in the proliferation of loose firearms in Maguindanao province.

“I am daring him to file charges against me in court. And he better present strong documentary and physical evidence to back up his allegations," said Teodoro, a former Defense secretary.

Teodoro reiterated that the accusation hurled against him by lawyer Philip Pantojan was baseless.

Pantojan had earlier said that Teodoro should be charged for allegedly having a hand in the arming of the Ampatuan political dynasty.

The Ampatuans, some of whom occupy key local government positions in Maguindanao, are implicated in the Nov. 23 massacre of at least 57 people in the town named after them.

Pantojan said it was under Teodoro’s watch as Defense chief that the Civilian Volunteers Organization (CVOs), which reportedly comprised the Ampatuans’ private army, was armed by the national government.

GMANews.TV sought Pantojan's side on Teodoro's challenge but the lawyer declined to comment on the issue.

During the eight-day imposition of martial law in Maguindanao early December, security forces seized around 1,500 pieces of high-powered rifles, machine guns, mortars, and assorted weaponry near and inside some of the Amptuans’ properties.

In a vacant lot in Barangay Poblacion Tres in Shariff Aguak, the recovered weapons bore the markings “Department of Defense (DND) Arsenal" and “Arms Corporation of the Philippines."

Teodoro said the Defense Department has no policy for the issuance of weapons to civilian armed groups.

“It is clear that the Defense Department has no operational control over the distribution of firearms and ammunition to the units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines," Teodoro stressed.

The military is currently conducting an investigation on the alleged pilferage of firearms and ammunition. - KBK, GMANews.TV

Moro rebels, groups hit Ampatuan party-list

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/moro-rebels-groups-hit-ampatuan-party-list

Monday, January 25, 2010

A PARTY-LIST group now seeking votes in the May elections is criticized by the Moro rebels and civil society groups as the Ampatuan clan’s “front” that seeks to benefit members of the family alone.

In a report by Luwaran.com, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said the party-list Adhikain ng Dakilang Anak ng Maharlika (Adam) represented by Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Zamzamin Ampatuan is aimed at benefiting the Ampatuan family.

The Luwaran report based its story on the statement issued by a certain Ma. Cecilia L. Rodriguez and was emailed to the MILF. It was learned that Rodriguez writes for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and is involved in various non-government organizations.

"We, in the civil society organizations here in Mindanao, cannot stop wondering why a party-list organization, such as the one organized by the Ampatuans, can acquire accreditation where in fact it does not qualify as a marginalized sector and it was organized mainly for the benefit of the Ampatuan clan," the statement read.

"[Undersecretary] Zam and Andal Sr. had come a long way in deceiving our government with their schemes in providing alternative views of the Bangsamoro problem. Back in early 2000, their campaign was to fight the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). They used broadcast media to expose the corruptions in the ranks of the MILF and their clinging to Islamic extremism. It was a noble cause at first. Their fight was able to convince many Maguindanaons that it was the right thing to do to stop the MILF. It convinced the datus and big clans to form alliance with them and fight the MILF. But, the fight is for the benefit of the Ampatuan clan and the family of Andal Sr.," it added.

The statement added that in June 2009, Andal Sr. gave the blessing for Zamzamin Ampatuan to organize his party-list organization named Adam.

It also said that the first division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) handled the Adam's petition for accreditation. On August 17, 2009, Adam was filed with the Clerk of the Comelec, and in November 2009, Adam was accredited as a party-list organization approved by Commissioner Rene Sarmiento.

Sun.Star Davao tried to get the reaction of Zamzamin Ampatuan on the issue but his aide said it would be better if it be discussed extensively over coffee.

Maharlika is a Sanskrit word meaning "noble". Its equivalent term among Moros and Indios during the pre-Spanish times was "datu", a term or title that is still retained and practiced among the former and in recent centuries by the indigenous peoples in Mindanao.

In its older context, maharlikas or datus were the ruling elites, the powerful, and the wealthy. Today, they are still largely the ruling groups in most Moro provinces in Mindanao. Even in the Philippines today, many or most of those elected into the higher echelon of government are descendants of former maharlikas.

Roughly translated, Adhikain ng Dakilang Anak ng Maharlika is rendered into English as "Aspiration of the great son of the noble or datu". (BOT/With PR)

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Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on January 26, 2010.

Anger, justice after massacre's 2nd month

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/anger-justice-after-massacres-2nd-month

Monday, January 25, 2010
By Ben O. Tesiorna

ANGER and thirst for justice still reigned among those who attended the second month commemoration of the November 23 Maguindanao massacre that killed 57 people, including 30 journalists.

In a visit to the massacre site at Sitio Masalay of Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town, relatives, friends and supporters of the victims are one in demanding justice for the victims of the most gruesome election-related violence in the country.

Family and relatives of the massacre victims went to Sitio Masalay on Saturday, along with around 500 delegates of the National Interfaith Mission for Justice and Peace in Maguindanao that also gathered lawyers, human rights workers, progressive groups, and journalists together.

Initiated by Kalinaw Mindanao, the mission aimed to continue the call for justice by remembering the victims of the massacre. Part of the mission is to visit the site.

"The mission will also document further accounts on the incident that will be of use in the pursuit of the case against the suspects of the massacre and in demanding accountability from all levels of government found complicit or negligent in the crime," said the Kalinaw Mindanao paper.

The participants of the mission will conduct interviews with families of victims, military officials and civilian residents in Maguindanao.

Lawyer Carlos Isagani Zarate, of the Alliance Against Impunity in Mindanao and one of the convenors of Kalinaw Mindanao, said the November 23 massacre showed the link between the suspects’ brutality and the kind of government the Philippines has.

"Our aim is not only to further expose the brutality of the butchers of massacre but more importantly, to unmask the monstrous complicity of the Arroyo government, its culpability in backing not just the private armies of the warlord Ampatuans but also in maintaining the public army--the AFP--that has engendered the violence," said Zarate, also the secretary general of the Union of People's Lawyers in Mindanao.

"This journey is also a show of solidarity with the families of the victims. All of us here lost a family, a colleague and a friend on that fateful day of the massacre, and we are united in fighting for justice and in saying that we will never forget this incident," Zarate added.

Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo, who joined the mission, said justice will only be delivered for the victims of the massacre if more and more people from all sectors will come together and pressure the National Government.

"Condemnation of the massacre must continue until justice will be served. And efforts to end impunity in Maguindanao must not even end if justice is finally served because we all know that there could be more victims of human rights abuses and killings in this province," Ocampo said.

He said there is a need for the government to really show its sincerity in dismantling private armies that are local official’s killing machinery.

The government, he said, must also show that it has the capacity to protect and serve its people.

"Massive decay of injustice happens when the justice system is partial. If this injustice continues, he said, the people's anger and disgust against the government will remain," he added.

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Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on January 26, 2010.

Ampatuans entrust arsenal to MILF leader

By John Unson (The Philippine Star) Updated December 21, 2009 12:00 AM

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao, Philippines — The Ampatuans have entrusted their arsenal for safekeeping to a Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander related to patriarch Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. after the military seized more than 800 of the clan’s firearms, according to relatives.

A relative of Ampatuan Sr. said many of his firearms were brought out of Shariff Aguak immediately after the Nov. 26 arrest of his son, Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.

“The old man (Ampatuan Sr.) has very strong connections with the police and the military before the incident so there was really no problem for him building a very strong private militia,” said an Ampatuan who is a hadji, one that has gone on pilgrimage to Mecca.

A source who asked not to be named said the firearms seized by soldiers and policemen in Shariff Aguak and nearby towns are not even half of the Ampatuan arsenal.

“Talks have been circulating that they have turned over hundreds to certain rebel groups whose leaders are related to them,” the source said.

Ampatuan Sr. is a relative of Adan Abdullah, commander of the MILF 106th Base Command.

Local sectors in Maguin-danao are convinced the Ampatuans’ acquisition of a huge ammunition supply was connected with the mysterious fire that razed a military ammunition depot inside Camp Siongco in Maguindanao almost two years ago.

At the time, the Army 6th Infantry Division Headquarters Service Battalion commanding officer prevented radio reporter Loreto Rosario of Catholic station dxND from covering the dawn fire that destroyed the military ammunition storage facility atop a hill inside Camp Siongco.

About a year before the fire, the ammunition depot’s caretaker, an Army major, was relieved from his post due to pilferage of ammunition under his custody.

The officer’s subordinates found dozens of ammunition and empty bullet boxes scattered along a trail leading to an open window in one of the warehouses to a fence at the rear of the building.

Col. Julieto Ando, who was 6th ID spokesman when the fire hit the ammunition depot, told reporters then military investigators believe that rodents or a snake could have cause the fire.

Just months after a big fire destroyed the ammunition depot, a fire razed the armory of the Maguindanao police in Shariff Aguak.

Police officials told investigators dozens of firearms and thousands of ammunition for assault rifles were destroyed in the fire.

However, an official of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said not a single burnt metal gun part was found at the scene.

“It also appeared that there seemed a premeditated arson there,” said the source.

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http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=534578&publicationSubCategoryId=63

Rebellion charges vs Ampatuans to be filed Wednesday

12/08/2009 | 11:46 PM

Government prosecutors on Tuesday recommended the filing of rebellion charges against seven members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, including its patriarch, former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.

Other clan members who will be charged are Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan, Akmad Tato Ampatuan, Anwar Ampatuan, Sajid Islam Ampatuan, Goldo Ampatuan, and Abdulla Kaliangat Ampatuan.

Seventeen (17) others are also included in the list, according to Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor.

Blancaflor said the prosecution panel led by Senior State Prosecutor Leo Dacera would file the case on Wednesday at the Cotabato Regional Trial Court when government offices there resume operations.

The charges were supposed to be filed Tuesday, but government offices in Cotabato City were closed in celebration of the Holy Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a local holiday.

The case was in connection with the alleged armed uprising being hatched by the Ampatuans to stop government authorities from arresting them in connection with the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province.


Blancaflor said the case would be filed based on the affidavits submitted by the witnesses accusing the Ampatuans of ordering government offices to close down in protest of the crackdown of the military against their family.

Other witnesses also testified on the role of the Ampatuans in allegedly planning and implementing the withdrawal of allegiance from the government.

Ampatuan Sr. and Zaldy Ampatuan are now under government custody, as well as Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., who is now facing 40 counts of murder in connection with the Maguindanao massacre after prosecutors added 15 to the earlier 25.

One of the lawyers of the embattled clan, meanwhile, said Ampatuan Sr. should be taken out of government custody.

Lawyer Victor Emmanuel Fontanilla, who stands as the clan's spokesman, said the 72-hour period given to determine if Ampatuan Sr. has to be charged has expired Tuesday without any complaints being lodged.

In his Balitanghali report, GMA News reporter Ian Cruz said no one from the Department of Justice (DOJ) has arrived to subject Andal Sr. to an inquest proceeding as of Tuesday noon.

Andal Sr. was initially brought to the Davao Doctors Hospital for health reasons Saturday, but was later transferred to a military hospital at Camp Panacan in Davao City, where he remains under observation due to hypertension.- with Mark Merueñas/KBK,GMANews.TV
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http://www.gmanews.tv/story/178858/rebellion-charges-vs-ampatuans-to-be-filed-wednesday

5 of recovered weapons belong to Ampatuan militiamen, military says

12/08/2009 | 08:47 PM

At least five of the weapons unearthed last Monday have been identified to belong to members of the Civilian Volunteers Organization (CVO) who reportedly remain loyal to the Ampatuans accused of masterminding the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao.

The serial numbers of five M16 assault rifles matched the weapons assigned to five CVO members based on a list signed by CVO leader Mohamad Sangki. The list was obtained by the military from the municipal hall of Ampatuan town in Maguindanao. [See: Third arms cache dug up behind Ampatuan town hall and also Firearms recovered in suspected ranch of Andal Sr. to be subjected to ballistics test]


For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV
The five CVO members with the corresponding serial numbers of the M16s assigned to them are: Brods Daulog (434236); Mahdi Kamsa (120080); Mastura Limba (003401); Gapor Limba (003401); and Rakman Sugadol (245498).

Lt. Col. Edgardo de Leon, commander of the Philippine Army's 73rd Infantry Battalion, said the identification of the CVO members could help solve the November 23 crime.

"Pagka positive ang ballistic examination (If the ballistic examination is positive), then we will have positive identities already of the perpetrators. Kumbaga, yung (It means) firearms have links already to specific persons," said De Leon.

Meanwhile, Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina, spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday said that more high-powered firearms were found in a septic tank at the back portion of the house owned of CVO chief security Macapagal "Marlboro" Kamendan in Cotabato City.

The weapons recovered include: one M60 machine gun; five M14 rifles, five M203 grenade launchers; and 14 M16 rifles. The firearms were turned over to the PNP's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Region 12, according to Espina. - GMANews.TV
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http://www.gmanews.tv/story/178846/5-of-recovered-weapons-belong-to-ampatuan-militiamen-military-says

Mindanao governors, lawmakers support martial law

JOHANNA CAMILLE L. SISANTE, GMANews.TV

12/08/2009 | 07:58 PM

Several Mindanao governors and congressmen on Tuesday expressed their support to the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao province, saying it should serve as a wake-up call for “warlords" in the country.

"With what's been found all over the area, I think the declaration is justifiable. No one knows what's going to happen," said Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Lagdameo at a press conference inside the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City.

Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Douglas Cagas IV said the existence of warlords is a reality in the whole country. “Realistically speaking, warlords do not only exist in Maguindanao. There are also other warlords in other areas."

“This [martial law] is a wake-up call for them to stop the rule of tyranny and start abiding by the rule of law," he added.

Through Proclamation 1959, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo placed Maguindanao under martial last Friday night to contain what her government said a looming rebellion there allegedly led by supporters of the Ampatuan clan.


The Ampatuans, once allied with President Arroyo, are blamed for the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao. The victims included several female members of the rival Mangudadatu clan and dozens of journalists.

The Senate and the House of Representatives are set to hold a joint session on Wednesday afternoon to discuss whether they would revoke or extend Proclamation 1959 – the first use of martial law since the late President Ferdinand Marcos imposed it on a nationwide scale more than 30 years ago.

The Mindanao officials, however, stopped short of saying that martial law should also be imposed on areas believed to be dominated by powerful political clans.

"Essentially we support the full implementation of the rule of law," said Sarangani Governor Miguel Dominguez when asked whether or not they support the expansion of martial law to other areas.

Aside from Dominguez, Cagas and Lagdameo, also present at the press conference were Sulu Governor Sakur Tan, Basilan Governor Jum Akbar, and North Cotabato Rep. Emmylou Talino-Mendoza. - KBK, GMANews.TV
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http://www.gmanews.tv/story/178839/mindanao-governors-lawmakers-support-martial-law

Military launches ‘persuasion flights’ vs. Ampatuan supporters

12/08/2009 | 08:48 PM

Two OV-10 Bronco attack planes hovered on Tuesday over three areas in Maguindanao to urge civilian supporters of the Ampatuans to surrender, following the arrest of key members of the clan either as suspects in the November 23 massacre of 57 people in Ampatuan town.

Col. Leo Ferrer, 601st Infantry Brigade commander and current military governor of Maguindanao, said the military launched “persuasion flights" in the towns of Mamasapano, Rajah Buayan and Datu Piang as part of its crackdown on militiamen reportedly supporting the Ampatuan clan.

“This is to show these groups who still insist not to be disarmed that they will suffer the wrath of these bomber planes if the Armed Forces decides to launch a tactical offensive against them," he told reporters in Filipino.

Ferrer added that two other military helicopters dropped about 6,000 leaflets over the province to urge civilian volunteer organizations (CVOs) still loyal to the Ampatuans to turn themselves in to government forces.


For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

These leaflets, which where dropped over 15 villages in the province, read: “Sa mga police auxiliaries: Huwag na kayong magtago sa batas. Sumuko na kayo alang-alang sa katahimikan ng Maguindanao. (To police auxiliaries: Stop hiding from the law. Surrender now for the peace and order of Maguindanao.) "

The leaflets likewise contained a contact number where civilians can inform the military of the whereabouts of the CVOs. These numbers were flooded with messages minutes after the military finished dropping the leaflets, Ferrer explained.

“These leaflets urge CVOs to stop hiding to avoid violence and to facilitate the restoration of peace and order in Maguindanao," he said.

The military likewise made rounds in the province with megaphones and called for the immediate surrender of the Ampatuans’ militiamen.

“These leaflets urge CVOs to stop hiding to avoid violence and to facilitate the restoration of peace and order in Maguindanao," he said.

The province of Maguindanao except certain areas covered by a government agreement with the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front has been under military rule since Friday night after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, through Proclamation 1959, declared martial law over the area.

In a report to Congress, Arroyo cited the threat of "lawless elements" taking up arms and committed to launch public uprisings as one of the reasons why it placed the province under martial law. [See: 'Lawless elements have taken up arms:' Arroyo report to Congress on martial law declaration in Maguindanao] - Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/178842/military-launches-persuasion-flights-vs-ampatuan-supporters