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After 57 deaths, no suspects
PNP awaits complaints from kin
By Raymond Africa
Malaya – www.malaya.com.ph
Thursday, November 26, 2009
ELEVEN more bodies were found yesterday in a village in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao, bringing to 57 the number of fatalities in the Monday massacre which is being blamed on the Ampatuan clan.
The fatalities – 35 men and 22 women -- included at least 16 media men invited by the rival Mangudadatu clan.
There were four survivors, according to Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, and the PNP is requesting him to present them because it said it still has no "suspect."
The Mangudadatus were on their way Monday to the Shariff Aguak capitol to file a certificate of candidacy for Esmael, vice mayor of Buluan town who is running for governor, when their convoy was stopped by about 100 armed men in Saniag village.
The armed men then herded them to the remote hillside village of Salman in the same town, where they were killed with M-16 rifles and machetes.
Authorities have yet to establish the exact number of persons in the convoy, with initial reports placing it at 60.
Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina, PNP spokesman, said Esmael told police investigators he would present the survivors "at the proper time."
He said it would be best for Esmael to let police investigators get the statements of the four supposed because the police "technically" have no suspects yet.
He said the PNP is waiting for Esmael to file a formal complaint.
"We have set of suspects being named by the vice mayor but he has not yet put that in writing. Mahirap yung sinabi nga niya pero baka bandang huli ay ayaw naman niyang pirmahan ang reklamo. Dapat i-formalize niya," he said.
Espina said the CIDG has sent a formal invitation to the Ampatuans.
He said the police have been coordinating with the Mangudadatus. "Please give us your witnesses. Meron pala kayong witnesses diyan pero ayaw bigay sa amin agad. Kung ibigay kunwari to other investigating agencies, for example DOJ, eh di sana natapos na yun. Meron na kaming pinangangalanan ngayon," Espina said.
Pressed as to why the police could not act against the Ampatuans amid the insistence of the Mangudadatus that its rival clan was behind the massacre, Espina said, "Mas maganda na si vice mayor ay i-formalize yung complaint laban sa sino man."
Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said there is yet no direct evidence linking the Ampatuan clan to the massacre.
Devanadera, Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño and a panel of prosecutors were in Koronadal City to personally supervise the investigation and conduct of autopsy on victims, through the help of medico legal teams from the National Bureau of Investigation.
She said the DOJ and the NBI are still in the process of gathering information from witnesses.
"We have to verify that. Kaya kami nagpunta dito ay dahil sa ganyang reports, gusto naming ma-validate. And also gusto naming makita talaga ang mga ebidensyang nakalap," she said.
Espina said as of now, the four policemen relieved from their posts are the only ones under investigation.
They are Senior Supt. Abusana Maguid, Maguindanao police chief; Chief Insp. Sukarno Dicay, the assistant provincial police chief; Insp. Diongon; and SPO2 Baccal.
Dicay, Diongon, and Baccal were reportedly seen at the crime scene. Maguid was booted out due to command responsibility.
Espina said CIDG Director Raul Castañeda is gathering the statements of the first responders to the massacre.
He said Chief Supt. Paisal Umpa, director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police, will also be investigated by the CIDG.
He said Umpa will be investigated after reports came out that he turned down the request of Esmael for him to provide police escorts to the convoy.
"Ano ba ang naging action nila nung tumawag na raw yung asawa ni vice mayor na humingi sila ng tulong? Bakti hindi sila gumawa ng aksiyon from the time they received the call? Kasi dapat may immediate action," Espina said.
Esmael on Monday said that after his wife’s telephone call, he called the Maguindanao provincial police director to inform him of the incident. He quoted the police official as saying, "Hindi ko alam yan, wala kaming pakialam diyan."
Esmael’s wife, Genalyn Tiamson-Mangudadatu, was among the fatalities.
Espina said the policemen will be also investigated as to why they did not do anything when the name of Andal Ampatuan Jr., mayor of Datu Unsay town, was being implicated in the crime.
Esmael on Monday said that in their last phone conversation, his wife named Andal Ampatuan Jr. as one of those who blocked their convoy, and that he was acting on orders of his father, Andal Sr., Maguindanao governor.
The conversation of Mangudadatu with his wife lasted for only 15 seconds.
Supt. Arthur Llamas, of the PNP Legal Service, said Esmael’s last conversation "is very vital in the investigation."
But, he said, Esmael "will just have to prove that the conversation really happened."
SLOW PROBE
Esmael expressed frustration over the "slow" investigation and the absence of any arrest.
"I am not satisfied," he said.
He belied the military’s statement that pursuit operations are being conducted.
"There is no pursuit happening because you know it’s Andal," he said referring to the Andal Sr.
"We all know Andal, who he is and what he is. He is so strong with the government...What I can say is that the Ampatuans have committed a lot of wrongdoings," he said.
Esmael said it is very clear the Ampatuans were behind the kidnapping and execution of his family members and the media men.
He noted the backhoe owned by the town government that was used to dig the graves of some of the victims.
"I call it a mute witness because it’s a heavy equipment, it cannot speak, but that is a very clear indication that the Ampatuans were the ones who instigated the perpetrators," he said.
Earlier, Mangudadatu’s brother, Madasser, and the military revealed that Andal Jr. was among those who intercepted the group. They suspects were with a group of policemen, police auxiliaries, and government militiamen.
PURSUIT OPERATIONS
The AFP belied Esmael’s statement there is no pursuit operation.
"How will he know since the operations are in the mountains," said Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., chief of the AFP public affairs office.
He said at least two companies are directly involved in the pursuit operations and several other companies are manning a cordon to prevent the suspects from escaping.
Subject of the pursuit is the 100-man group which waylaid the Mangudadatus’ convoy.
"We know their general area…Our pursuit operations are ongoing. We have also established blocking positions. They are there, I talked with the battalion commander and he has two companies pursuing them," said Brawner.
He said the Army’s 46th Infantry Battalion was returned to Maguindanao yesterday. The battalion was sent off by the Army’s 6th Infantry Division to Samar Monday before the kidnapping.
He said the 46th IB is backed up by armor assets. The Air Force, he said, has also alerted four of their helicopter gunships.
Brawner said the arrival of the 46th IB increased to three the total number of battalions operating in the province. A battalion is composed of about 500 officers and men.
CAFGU GROUPS DISBANDED
The Armed Forces has disbanded the two companies of Special Cafgu Active Auxiliary (SCAA) in Maguindanao which were initially linked to the massacre.
A company is composed of about 120 men.
Brawner said the SCAAs were formed last year on the request of the Ampatuans as "incumbent" local chief executives amid threats posed by rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The military had issued these Cafgus with M14 and Garand rifles.
Initial reports said the SCAAs were with Maguindanao policemen and police auxiliaries who intercepted members of the Mangungudatu political clan and mediamen in Ampatuan town. The victims were later executed.
Brawner said the SCAA in Maguindanao is under the administrative control of the local officials.
Nevertheless, he said the SCAAs are professional and doubted if they are being used by the Ampatuans as goons.
GOV’T AFRAID?
Esmael said his wife and relatives had no other intention in going to the provincial capitol in Sharif Aguak town, where the local Commission on Elections is situated, but to file his certificate of candidacy.
"It’s clear that my opponents are the Ampatuans but why is it they are not being pursued?" said Mangudadatu, noting that in other cases, law enforcers would immediately detain and even beat an ordinary suspect.
"Now, a big fish committed a crime that is gruesome to the world. How come they are not arrested? Is the government afraid (of the Ampatuans)?" asked Esmael.
Told of the military’s statement that at least two battalions are pursuing the suspects, Esmael said: "They deployed (troops) but there are no movements. They are not going arrest them. Why? Is it because they (Ampatuans) are moneyed, that’s why they cannot be arrested."
"The military should not be slow. Please tell the military not to be slow," he said but added he was not accusing the military of conniving with the Ampatuans.
MUTILATION
Esmael described the Ampatuans as "monsters."
He said his wife was not only shot in the mouth. He said her eyes were pierced, her breasts also shot, her legs were mutilated, and her private part slashed four times.
"This is not done by animals. I don’t know the term that should be used...I cannot call the Ampatuans animals because I take care of animals which I tamed. The term there is not an animal, they are monsters," he said.
Esmael said his family would not retaliate against the Ampatuans and would instead let legal processes take their course. "
We are law-abiding citizens. We are not going to do anything. We are educated," he said.
Esmael’s uncle, Rep. Datu Pax Mangudadatu (Lakas-Kampi, Sultan Kudarat) sought a House inquiry.
"It is reported that the murder were perpetrated together with some members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and armed civilian personnel led by (Datu Unsay) Mayor Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr. whose power and influence in Maguindanao politics must be stopped," he said in a resolution.
At the Senate, Senators Benigno Aquino III and Manuel Roxas II also filed a resolution expressing "the sense of the Senate condemning in the strongest possible terms the brutal and inhuman election-related massacre and carnage of innocent civilians in the Maguindanao province."
They also called for an inquiry.
`NO EVIDENCE OF RAPE’
Devanadera said there were "significant findings" of powder burns in the bodies of the victims.
"This is an indication that they were killed at close range. There were also slugs recovered that showed that the suspects used high-powered guns. But so far, there’s no evidence of rape or beheadings," Devanadera said.
She declined to answer queries whether investigators have witnesses in their custody who could identify the perpetrators.
"We still have nothing pointing to the Ampatuans as suspects or perpetrators... we are concentrating in gathering evidence for the filing of cases."
Devanadera said they are awaiting a formal report from the NBI.
Of the 57 bodies recovered, 24 are being autopsied by the NBI.
Lawyer Reynaldo Esmeralda, NBI Deputy Director for Technical (some text missing).
ARMY RESPONSE
The killers could have gotten away with the crime had Army soldiers not verified on time the information that nobody from the Mangudadatu convoy could reached by cellphone.
Sources said Maj. Gen. Alfredo Cayton, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, sent a chopper to check the area.
After seeing bodies, the chopper team radioed their colleagues who in turn went to the area to check.
Upon arrival of the Army troopers, the killers scampered in different directions, leaving five vehicles and 22 bodies they have yet to bury. The killers also left the government-owned backhoe behind.
"That was when the massacre was discovered, when the Army soldiers came in. They (killers) could have gotten away with the crime," one of the sources said.
Three vehicles – an L-300 van owned by UNTV, a Toyota Tamaraw FX, and a Toyota Vios – were also dug up in the area. – With Evangeline de Vera, Victor Reyes, Jocelyn Montemayor, Wendell Vigilia and JP Lopez
Maguindanao massacre death toll climbs to 57
Philippine Daily Inquirer – www.inquirer.net
Thursday, November 26, 2009
AMPATUAN, MAGUINDANAO—A few kilometers off the main highway, on a remote hilltop covered with waist-high grass, bodies lay with twisted hands reaching in the air. They had been shot point-blank.
Nearby, cadavers were being laid out under banana leaves on Tuesday as police—their faces covered against the stench—unearthed a mass grave containing 22 victims from Monday’s ambush on an election caravan.
The discovery brought the death toll to 46—an unprecedented act of violence at the outset of the country’s election season. This climbed to 57 on Wednesday after two more 15-foot deep mass graves yielded 11 bodies.
Chief Supt. Josefino Cataluna, regional police chief, said two of the newly dug-up bodies were inside two vehicles. Another van was also recovered from the same grave.
He said the fatalities included more than 20 journalists who were out to cover the filing of the certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governor of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu in the May elections. But the exact number of victims was still unclear three days after the massacre.
“We expect to gather more bodies as our personnel scour the area,” Cataluna said in a mobile phone interview with the Inquirer.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has declared a state of emergency in the provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City, sending troop and police reinforcements to put order in the area.
Dozens of gunmen intercepted the caravan as it traveled on a two-lane highway that cuts across vast open tracts of land and banana groves, police said. They took some of the people to the grassy area, where the killings started.
Bullet-riddled bodies
On Tuesday, authorities found 24 bullet-riddled bodies sprawled on the ground next to five abandoned vehicles.
Police, aided by a backhoe, worked most of Tuesday to extricate the bodies from the mass grave. All had been shot multiple times and were dumped on top of one another. One was a pregnant woman.
Grieving relatives helped identify their loved ones before they were given the bodies, covered by banana leaves, for burial.
Mangudadatu was not in the convoy because he had received death threats. He said he met with the defense secretary, national police chief and military commanders to demand justice and the immediate arrest and prosecution of the killers of his wife, two sisters and other relatives.
He said four witnesses in his protection, whom he refused to identify, told him the convoy was stopped by gunmen loyal to Andal Ampatuan Jr., a town mayor and rival, to prevent Mangudadatu’s family from filing election papers.
Massacre planned
“It was really planned because they had already dug a huge hole (for the bodies),” Mangudadatu said.
He said there were reports from the area that the militia had been blocking the road for a few days.
Police said they were investigating reports that Mayor Ampatuan and dozens of policemen and pro-government militiamen were among the gunmen who blocked the convoy.
Maguindanao’s acting governor is Sajid Ampatuan, another son of former Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. The powerful Ampatuans, who have ruled the impoverished province unopposed since 2001, are expected to run again next year. The clan could not be reached for comment.
The family helped deliver votes for the Arroyo administration in 2004 elections.
Ampatuan Jr. not yet suspect
Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina, PNP spokesperson, denied reports that Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao has been tagged as primary suspect in the murders.
“Investigators are presently documenting all the evidence against persons purportedly involved in this crime,” Espina said in a news briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
“We cannot declare anybody as a suspect until we can make the allegations formal through a written statement from the complainants,” he said.
Philippine National Police Director General Jesus Versoza said that four commanders, including one provincial police chief, had been relieved of their duties and confined to camp while being investigated.
Militiamen grounded
Also Wednesday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines ordered the confiscation of all firearms and uniforms issued to its paramilitary units in Maguindanao after they were implicated in the massacre.
Lt. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang, AFP vice chief of staff, ordered the grounding of the units composed of 100 men used as an auxiliary force in fighting rebels and criminals but often served as a private security force of local warlords.
“We are conducting an investigation as to the involvement of our own men and we would like to assure the public that this will be carried out impartially and transparently,” Maclang said.
Julkipli Wadi, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of the Philippines, said he doubted the national government’s resolve in trimming the powers of political dynasties like the Ampatuans because they deliver votes during elections.
“Because of the absence of viable political institutions, powerful men are taking over,” he said.
“Big political forces and personalities in the national government are sustaining the warlords, especially during election time, because they rely on big families for their votes.” With reports from AP, Marlon Ramos, TJ Burgonio, Edson Tandoc Jr. Cynthia D. Balana, Tina G. Santos and Nico Alconaba, Dennis Santos and Charlie Senase, Inquirer Mindanao
Kin grieve over murder most foul
By Rosa May de Guzman
Philippine Daily Inquirer – www.inquirer.net
Thursday, November 26, 2009
KORONADAL CITY—Decomposing bodies lie on soiled concrete tables at the morgue, their foul stench overpowering the cool breeze flowing from the open door and forcing many of the grieving viewers to wear masks and some to even vomit.
The throng of inconsolable people were hoping that death had not come to their loved ones.
Thirteen of the victims of Monday’s massacre on a hill in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao were brought to Subere Funeral Homes, waiting to be identified—painfully—by their relatives. Narciso Allen Memorial Service has 17 bodies, and Southern Funeral Homes, seven.
Ray Subang readied a pink long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black trousers for his eldest brother Ian, publisher of Socsksargen Today, a weekly publication based in General Santos City.
“So that even in his coffin, he’d look dignified,” Ray said. He managed to put up a smile but his baggy eyes conveyed gloom.
Ian, 49, bore three bullet wounds in the chest and stomach.
Shoe story
Ray’s hopes for Ian vanished after he saw his brother’s old black leather shoes worn by someone lying in a pool of arid blood, alongside gorier images of manslaughter. He wailed incessantly.
That Monday, Ray said, Ian woke up at 4 a.m. to prepare for the journey to Maguindanao. “It was unusual for Ian to play, sing a praise song ‘In Moments Like This’ and let loose his full voice. I think that was a positive sign that we all should accept.”
Ian had every reason to rejoice, Ray said, knowing that his brother would go the rightful place where every dead people should go.
The journalist left a wife and three children. His body will be brought to General Santos CIty.
Difficult take
For Allan Cachuela, however, it was not easy to accept the fate of his brother Hanibal or “Bal.”
For 20 years, Bal, 51, served as the Maguindanao bureau chief for Punto, a daily newspaper based in General Santos City and was involved with other local newspapers in the region.
“It’s difficult to take what had happened to my brother. Only animals can do such a cruel act. Justice is all we need,” Allan said.
Bal’s body was peppered with bullets in the head, stomach and leg.
Estranged from his wife for 14 years, Bal left a 19-year-old son and the memory of a kind-hearted, light-spirited man. “He was generous. Whoever would come and ask for financial assistance, he always had a hand for them,” Allan said.
Bal even confided that he would run for congressman in South Cotabato as an independent. “He had a huge following here, especially those he had helped. He had not hurt anyone,” his brother said.
Even marketing people
Freddie Sulinab lost five employees in his local weekly, Periodico. They were Rannie Razon, Art Vedia, John Caniban, Rey Merisa and Noel Decena.
“They did not ask for permission from me that they joined the Mangudadatu coverage in Maguindanao,” Freddie said. “My staff, mostly under the marketing unit, had no business there … [unless they were trying] to get paid advertisements from the politicians.”
Periodico mainly relies on paid ads, from which his staff could get as much as 50 percent in commission. A whole ad page costs P8,000.
“It was never part of their job to join the convoy, but the people behind the murders do not even have the right to claim the lives of the fourth estate,” Sulinab said.
Sulinab, who also chairs the South Cotabato Print Media Association that has 15 papers across the province as members, said he would never get tired of running the business despite losing its key people.
“We call for impartiality of the investigation. Jail the guilty. We don’t want another repeat of a mass murder happening in our ranks. We should be together in this effort to rid the country of warlordism,” he added.
3 sisters
In Bacolod City, three sisters will no longer get the chance of seeing their father alive after 17 years.
Henry Araneta of radio station dzRH Cotabato, who was among those killed on Monday, had left Barangay Canmoros, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, for Mindanao after he and his wife separated.
“He promised that he would come to Negros in December so that we could finally meet him. I was looking forward to seeing him and despite reports that he was killed, I am still hoping that he is still alive,” said Araneta’s daughter, Princess, now 20.
Princess said she and her sisters—Jesmar, 21, and Ella, 17—had longed to meet their father, but they got in touch only in April.
Two other massacre victims were from Bacolod. Bart Maravilla, 48, of Bombo Radyo Koronadal, was from Purok Masagana 99, Barangay 6, while lawyer Concepcion Brizuela, the daughter of Alfonso Jaime, had practiced her profession in Bacolod.
Brizuela studied at La Consolacion College in Bacolod and at Silliman University in Dumaguete City, and finished her degree at the University of Mindanao, her relatives, Carlos Brizuela and former Vice Mayor Ramiro Garcia, said on Tuesday.
Active in community
Two other women victims—Genalyn Mangudadatu, wife of Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu of Buluan town in Maguindanao, and Pinky Balamal—were active in community projects, including the Gawad Kalinga housing for the poor, according to Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, who has also partnered with the GK.
“It is really a big loss, and sad news for us who are GK partners in local government,” Binay said. With reports from Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas; and Allison W. Lopez in Manila
Ampatuans must surrender suspect today—Palace
By Charlie Señase
www.inquirer.net
Thursday, November 26, 2009
COTABATO CITY – (UPDATE 2) Malacañang has given a powerful clan in Mindanao until this Thursday to surrender one of its own who has been linked to the massacre in Maguindanao, an official said.
Mindanao Affairs Secretary Jesus Dureza said that Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. must surrender or combat troops will attack the Ampatuan premises in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao's capital town.
Ampatuan Jr., son of Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., was identified as being behind the gruesome killings of at least 57 persons, most of them journalists, who were supposed to cover the filing of the certificate of candidacy of rival politician Esmael Mangudadatu.
"Am giving them [Ampatuans] up to 10 this morning to peacefully surrender Datu Unsay [Andal, Jr.'s moniker] or else the AFP [Armed Force of the Philippines] will be forced to swoop into their abodes," he said.
The surrender may take place either in Shariff Aguak or at the General Santos airport, where the surrenderee is expected to be flown to Manila," said Dureza, who declined to elaborate.
Earlier in the day, Philippine National Police Chief Jesus Verzosa said on radio that several gunmen were arrested.
He identified the suspects as militiamen under the control of Ampatuan Jr.
"Andal Ampatuan Jr. is a suspect. He has sent feelers and Secretary Dureza will accompany him to submit to an investigation," Verzosa said, referring to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's adviser on the southern island of Mindanao.
The massacre occurred after about 100 Ampatuan gunmen allegedly abducted a convoy of aides and relatives of a rival politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, plus a group of journalists.
The victims were snatched as they were traveling in a six-vehicle convoy to nominate Mangudadatu as the opposition candidate for provincial governor in next year's elections.
They were shot at close range, some with their hands tied behind their backs, and dumped or buried in shallow graves on a remote farming road close to a town bearing the Ampatuan name.
Fifty-seven bodies have been recovered so far, and police are still searching for more potential victims.
Ampatuan Sr. had been grooming his son, currently a local mayor, to take over as governor of Maguindanao.
The victims' relatives alleged the Ampatuans organized the murders so that Mangudadatu would not run for that post.
Thursday's actions by the police were the first arrests in relation to the massacre.
Ampatuans not ‘untouchable’ -- Ermita
Palace plans disarming political clan
By Christian V. Esguerra
www.inquirer.net
Thursday, November 26, 2009
MANILA, Philippines -- Under fire for allegedly taking it easy on the Ampatuan clan, Malacañang declared on Wednesday that President Macapagal-Arroyo’s political debt of gratitude would not keep the government from going after the family in connection with the Maguindanao massacre.
No less than Ms Arroyo acknowledged that the mass killings had something to do with the political rivalry in the province and vowed that, “the perpetrators will not escape justice.”
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the government was preparing to “disarm” the Ampatuans, who boast of a large private armed group that has control over territories in Maguindanao.
“This is not a simple election feud between opposing clans; this is a supreme act of inhumanity that is a blight on our nation,” Ms Arroyo said in a strongly worded statement read by Ermita in a media briefing.
Ermita said Ms Arroyo insisted that the statement come out on Wednesday, apparently in the wake of criticisms that the administration was treating the Ampatuans—who traditionally delivered votes for Malacañang—with kid gloves.
“Masama talaga ang loob ng Presidente (The President really feels bad),” he said.
Ms Arroyo announced that Thursday (Nov. 26) would be a national day of mourning for the victims of the massacre. Ermita said black ribbons would be tied all around the Palace grounds in commiseration with the victims.
“I understand too well the volatility of the political situation in the area and for this reason, I reiterate with even greater urgency my personal appeal for calm and restraint,” she said.
“This crime is too outrageous not to prick the conscience of this nation, or any other nation for that matter. Let us hope that the outrage is overcome by reason and by our need to live our lives in peace, honor, and human dignity.”
Ermita confronted allegations that Malacañang could not risk antagonizing the Ampatuans because of its long political ties with the family.
In the 2004 elections, the clan delivered huge votes for Ms Arroyo over Fernando Poe Jr. The same was true in the 2007 senatorial election where the administration ticket scored an improbable 12-0 win in Maguindanao.
In last week’s national convention of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party, Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) took the microphone and pledged to deliver votes for standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro and the rest of the administration ticket in the May elections.
“The sense of debt of gratitude as a result of the political exercises before should not becloud the issue of whether anyone or any group has committed some illegal acts or have violated the law,” Ermita said. “It should not be made an excuse for us not to follow the law.”
Ermita said Secretary Jesus Dureza, head of the Maguindanao crisis committee, was preparing a list of “immediate” recommendations including the dismantling of the Ampatuan private armies to help “diffuse the situation in the area.”
“We are looking toward that direction,” he said.
Ermita, former interim party president, said the Ampatuans could be sanctioned by Lakas-Kampi-CMD if they were found guilty of the Maguindanao massacre.
“They’re not (untouchable),” he said. “Nobody should be untouchable and I mean nobody. If anyone commits a crime especially as heinous as this one, I don’t see why anybody could think people should be considered as untouchable.”
Said Ms Arroyo: “The gruesome killings in Maguindanao constitute a most heinous crime. What makes it particularly so is the fact that it counts among its victims, lawyers, media reporters, and other defenseless and innocent civilians. Like many others, I am appalled and outraged by it, and I join the rising chorus of indignation against it.”
Ermita urged Zaldy Ampatuan to “go above his personal interest and be very cooperative in the conduct of the investigation to show that he is a man of the law, a leader who can be trusted.”
Military troops move against massacre clan
By Ted Aljibe, Agence France-Presse
www.inquirer.net
Thursday, November 26, 2009
BULUAN, Maguindanao—Philippine security forces on Thursday poured into the territory of a powerful clan accused of a massacre that left 57 people dead, arresting some of its gunmen and disarming others.
Authorities said they expected the alleged mastermind of Monday's slaughter to turn himself in by the end of the day, following intense pressure for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government to take decisive action against the clan.
However, indicating the situation in Maguindanao province remained extremely volatile, the military said most of the Ampatuan family's militiamen alleged to have carried out the massacre had no intention of giving themselves up.
"Most of the armed group that perpetrated this crime have run away towards the mountainous area of Maguindanao," military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner said on ABS-CBN television.
"That is where we are conducting our pursuit operations."
An AFP photographer witnessed armored personnel carriers patrolling highways in the southern province of Maguindanao, and television footage showed police commandos surrounding buildings in major towns controlled by the clan.
Police announced the operation had secured the first arrests since the brutal explosion of political violence, saying several gunmen were detained on Thursday morning.
"We don't have an exact number (of those arrested) but our policemen in the area have arrested several," national police Director General Jesus Verzosa said on DZBB radio.
He identified the suspects as militiamen under the control of Andal Ampatuan Jr., a mayor of a town in Maguindanao who is accused of masterminding Monday's killings.
"Andal Ampatuan Jr. is a suspect. He has sent feelers and Secretary Dureza will accompany him to submit to an investigation," Verzosa said, referring to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's adviser on the southern island of Mindanao.
Ampatuan Jr. is the son of Maguindanao's governor, a Muslim clan chief who commands his own private army and until this week was a close ally of Arroyo's ruling coalition.
Maguindanao is a part of the lawless Mindanao island, where Muslim clans rule vast areas backed by their own private armies, often out of the national government's control.
Monday's massacre occurred after about 100 Ampatuan gunmen allegedly abducted a convoy of aides and relatives of a rival politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, plus a group of journalists.
The victims were snatched as they were traveling in a six-vehicle convoy to nominate Mangudadatu as the opposition candidate for provincial governor in next year's elections.
They were shot at close range, some with their hands tied behind their backs, and dumped or buried in shallow graves on a remote farming road close to a town bearing the Ampatuan name.
Fifty-seven bodies have been recovered so far, and police were expected to continue searching Thursday for more potential victims.
Ampatuan Sr. had been grooming his son to take over as governor of Maguindanao.
The victims' relatives alleged the Ampatuans organized the murders so that Mangudadatu would not run for that post.
The ruling Lakas Kampi CMD coalition late on Wednesday expelled both Ampatuans from the party.
Ampatuan's brother, Zaldy, who was governor of an autonomous region on Mindanao that included Maguindanao, was also expelled.
"(They were) expelled for their failure to uphold party ideals and principles in their area of jurisdiction," the coalition's nomination for president in next year's elections, Gilberto Teodoro, said in a statement.
The untouchable: PNP won't touch Mayor Ampatuan
By Cecile Suerte Felipe
The Philippine Star – www.philstar.com
Thursday, November 26, 2009
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday refused to categorically name Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., a political ally of President Arroyo, as the prime suspect in an election-linked massacre in Maguindanao in the absence of concrete evidence against the Ampatuan family.
This came amid speculations that Ampatuan Jr. had already fled the country. Other sources, however, said that he is still in Maguindanao.
National police spokesman Chief Super intendent Leonardo Espina earlier said that “according to initial reports, those who were abducted and murdered at Saniag were stopped by a group led by the mayor of Datu Unsay.”
But Espina later backtracked and told reporters “to verify first the report” because the word suspect is a technical term.
“Let’s evaluate first if he will be implicated in the statements. After it is done and concluded, if he is included then his status will change. That’s the time we call him suspect,” the PNP spokesman said.
Ampatuan is a member of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD coalition and a son of an extremely powerful politician in the region who has ensured local support for President Arroyo in previous elections.
The military and the relatives of the victims had previously named the bodyguards of the Ampatuans as the suspects in Monday’s massacre in which relatives and supporters of a rival politician, and a group of journalists who went with them to cover the filing of his Certificte of Candidacy, were abducted and brutally killed in a village on the outskirts of a town that bears the clan’s name.
Espina’s comments were the first time Ampatuan Jr. was specifically mentioned in connection with the gruesome massacre.
He was being groomed to succeed his father, who is on his third and last term as Maguindanao governor.
Espina said he is hopeful that charges against the perpetrators will be filed within the week.
Crucial phone calls
Investigators will also try to get a written statement from Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu pertaining to his last phone conversation with his wife Genalyn, who told her husband that a group of armed men led by an Ampatuan intercepted them.
Superintendent Arthur Llamas, of the PNP Legal Service, said the telephone conversation between the vice mayor and his wife was “very important in the investigation and possibly in the prosecution of the case now.”
“Basically, this is being considered by the PNP as part of evidence that will be used in filing charges against the culprits because basically we could consider this as the res gestae or a statement coming from a dying person, if indeed the person died after she made the statement,” said Llamas.
He said the PNP, through a court order, might request for proof of the conversation from the telephone network.
Complicity of men in uniform?
Espina also said it will question Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police director Chief Superintendent Paisal Umpa on why he did not grant the request of Buluan Mayor Mangudadatu for a security detail on the convoy.
It was earlier reported that Umpa rejected Mangudadatu’s request for police protection.
“He will be investigated for that. He has also yet to make and submit a report on the incident,” Espina said.
The PNP earlier relieved and placed under investigation Maguindanao police director Senior Superintendent Abdusana Maguid and his deputy, Chief inspector Zukarno Dicay.
Central Mindanao’s Muslim and Christian communities have also asked for a probe on Col. Medardo Jeslani, commander of the Army’s 601st Brigade, who they said ignored the presence of armed men along Barangay Salman, Ampatuan days before the incident.
The 601st Brigade has jurisdiction over Ampatuan and surrounding towns in the second district of Maguindanao, the known political bailiwicks of former Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr.
Even lowly Army intelligence operatives of battalions under the 601st Brigade said they had informed their superiors, all under Jeslani, of the presence of the suspects on Friday.
“I was told by my superiors that we can’t do anything because it’s a political thing and that we should not interfere,” an Army agent told reporters.
The suspects, according to farmers residing near Barangay Salman, even erected an Army squad tent in a spot not far from the highway where they kept their firearms, some of them M-60 machineguns.
Witnesses said the gunmen were even seen mingling with policemen from the Maguindanao provincial police while in the area.
Premeditated
The gunmen apparently could have planned to bury the victims with their vehicles using a mechanized excavator, but balked and fled after learning that six trucks full of responding soldiers started to close in.
Ethnic Maguindanaons residing in farms around the area where the victims were slaughtered said the gunmen, informed by lookouts, were alarmed by the arrival of soldiers dispatched by the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and thus abandoned the remaining corpses that they were supposed to bury using a Komatsu crane-type backhoe.
More than a dozen of those killed in the carnage were media practitioners from the South Cotabato-Sarangani-General Santos City (Soscargen) area accompanying the women of the Mangudadatu clan who were set to file the vice mayor’s candidacy for provincial governor.
No men from the family were present since they believed that rivals would not attack women.
“There are persistent intelligence reports coming in from informants around the crime scene that the real plan of the killers was to bury the victims, including their vehicles, but they escaped hastily after learning that several military trucks full of soldiers were already headed towards their location,” said Col. Jonathan Ponce, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.
Left at the crime scene were a Toyota Tamaraw FX utility vehicle and a Toyota Vios and more than a dozen cadavers riddled with bullets.
Authorities also recovered in the crime scene a wrecked UNTV vehicle believed to have been used by local journalists who would have covered the filing.
The police and the military are now checking on circulating text messages purporting that the operator of the backhoe has not returned home.
The yellow backhoe was marked property of the Maguindanao provincial government.
Shallow assurance
The provincial administrator of Maguindanao, engineer Norie Unas, told The STAR late last night that Ampatuan has assured Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza during a meeting in Shariff Aguak of his willingness to submit to an investigation.
The Mangudadatus said some of their slain relatives managed to call family members in Buluan when armed men flagged them down at Barangay Salman here and relayed to them that they saw Ampatuan among the group that stopped their vehicles.
“It was really planned because they had already dug a huge hole (for the bodies),” Mangudadatu said.
He said there were reports from the area that the militia had been blocking the road for days.
The Ampatuans, who have ruled one of the nation’s poorest regions since 2001, could not be reached for comment.
Fourth Estate mourning
As of press time, Central Mindanao Regional Police director Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluña said a total of 57 bodies had already been recovered after 11 bodies were dug up from the grave yesterday, but the victim’s identities had not yet been established.
However, 17 of them were believed to be journalists from regional newspapers, TV and radio stations, making Monday’s attack the most deadly ever on the media.
Five people remain unaccounted for.
“The perpetrators will not escape justice. The law will hunt them until they are caught,” President Arroyo told reporters.
“No effort will be spared to bring justice to the victims and hold the perpetrators accountable to the full limit of the law,” Arroyo said.
However, few think she will be successful in the impoverished, lawless region that has been outside the central government’s reach for generations, and where warlords backed by private armies go by their own rules.
Julkipli Wadi, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of the Philippines, said he doubted the national government’s resolve in trimming the powers of political dynasties like the Ampatuans because they deliver votes during elections.
“Because of the absence of viable political institutions, powerful men are taking over,” he said. “Big political forces and personalities in the national government are sustaining the warlords, especially during election time, because they rely on big families for their votes.”
Noynoy Espina, vice chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, said as many as 20 journalists may have been in the convoy, based on reports from union chapters in the area.
The figures could not be immediately reconciled, but still the deaths marked “the largest single massacre of journalists ever,” according to Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.
DOJ eyes prosecution
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera flew to Mindanao to personally supervise the investigation of Department of Justice (DOJ) fiscals and agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) aimed at pinpointing the perpetrators in the massacre.
Devanadera told reporters in a teleconference that their team was in Koronadal City for the autopsy of victims. She said they were in a funeral parlor where 18 of the recovered bodies were being examined by the NBI medico-legal team.
She said it has been determined that the victims were shot point-blank with high-powered firearms.
“Gunpowder was found all over the bodies, which means they were shot at very close range,” she lamented.
She, however, stressed that there were no indications that the female victims were raped, neither were any of the victims beheaded.
Devanadera said they were set to see the reported four witnesses and evaluate testimonies.
“Our investigation is on full blast,” she said.
The DOJ chief also revealed that they are considering placing the witnesses under the Witness Protection Program and bringing them to Manila for security reasons.
She asked for “more time to make concrete findings,” reiterating that the DOJ would “act with dispatch and resolve immediately cases that may be referred for inquest/ preliminary investigation.”
Devanadera said she has also tapped state prosecutors in North Cotabato to assist families of victims in claiming benefits under the Victims Compensation Law through the department’s Board of Claims.
She ordered the fiscals to coordinate closely with the NBI and military and police in building up the case against perpetrators of the massacre.
“We will ensure the expeditious prosecution of all those who are responsible for this atrocity. The DOJ shall work on these cases until we have prosecuted the perpetrators to its successful conclusion,” she stressed.
Devanadera has assigned Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, head of Task Force 211 on media killings, to personally supervise the investigation of the DOJ-NBI team in Maguindanao.
Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, on the other hand, said they are waiting for the DOJ to issue an order against those who are being implicated in the crime.
“Nobody has been asked to be included in the watchlist. We are still waiting for the guidance from DOJ,” Libanan said.
Senators were one in condemning the massacre and said the full force of the law should be implemented against the perpetrators.
Senators Manuel Villar Jr., Loren Legarda, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Manuel Roxas, Benigno Aquino III, Rodolfo Biazon and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile crossed party lines and called on the government to take a bold and decisive action against the suspects.
“President GMA and Gov. Ampatuan are very close to each other. We cannot allow such a dastardly act to go unpunished. It’s about time that the rule of law be upheld to set an example that even in the Moro areas of Mindanao crime does not pay,” Pimentel said. -- With John Unson, Mike Frialde, Evelyn Macairan, Edu Punay, Sandy Araneta, Christina Mendez, AP
UN, EU, US condemn Maguindanao massacre
By Pia Lee-Brago
The Philippine Star – www.philstar.com
Thursday, November 26, 2009
MANILA, Philippines - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the European Commission, as well as the US and British embassies in Manila have joined the chorus of condemnation of the massacre of more than 50 people, including journalists and lawyers, in Maguindanao last Monday.
“The Secretary General is saddened by reports of the brutal killing of more than 50 civilians in Maguindanao province, Southern Philippines. He condemns this heinous crime committed in the context of a local election campaign,” a statement from the Secretary General’s office read.
Ban called for the perpetrators of the “heinous” crime to be brought to justice.
President Arroyo declared on Tuesday a state of emergency in Maguindanao province following Monday’s killings, which have been described as the worst election-related violence in the nation’s history.
“The Secretary General extends heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and hopes that no effort will be spared to bring justice and to hold the perpetrators accountable,” the statement said.
Outgoing US Ambassador Kristie Kenney said “such barbaric acts violate the most fundamental principles of human rights and democracy.”
“On behalf of all American and Filipino employees of the Embassy, Ambassador Kenney offers heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the victims,” the US embassy statement said.
“We strongly believe that a thorough, rapid, and transparent investigation must be conducted, and those responsible must be brought to swift justice,” Kenney said.
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the barbaric killing of innocent civilians, including women, journalists and lawyers, who were preparing to participate in the electoral process in the Philippines,” said European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
“I call for calm in the period leading up to the forthcoming elections scheduled for May 2010. In the face of this atrocity, the rule of law and democracy have to prevail,” she said.
British Ambassador Stephen Lillie said: “I condemn this brutal massacre of innocent civilians, including women, journalists and lawyers. I hope that the authorities in the Philippines will take urgent action to bring the perpetrators to justice and prevent further escalation of violence in the run-up to next year's elections here.”
“Effective action will be crucial in maintaining confidence in the Philippines' commitment to protect human rights,” he added.
No accountability
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the massacre was an effect of the failure of the Arroyo administration to hold accountable perpetrators of unexplained killings.
It urged the government to initiate an independent probe on the murders to be led by the National Bureau of Investigation.
“Extrajudicial killings will continue to be a serious problem in the Philippines until they are competently, transparently, and impartially investigated, and perpetrators, including members of security forces, are fully prosecuted,” Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said.
“The history of election-related violence in the Philippines makes the lead up to the May 2010 elections a period of special concern,” Pearson said.
“Far too many people have been gunned down in the Philippines while President Arroyo has sat on her hands,” she said. “The possible involvement of state forces in the Maguindanao massacre means that security personnel shouldn’t be allowed to interfere in an independent investigation.”
Human Rights Watch has also expressed concern that the administration’s personal relationship with the Ampatuans would put into question the impartiality of an investigation.
“Ampatuan family members should be questioned by the National Bureau of Investigation, not having chats with senior presidential advisors,” Pearson said, referring to presidential adviser on Mindanao affairs Jesus Dureza’s meeting with the Ampatuan family after the killings.
“President Arroyo’s words on justice will ring hollow so long as the perpetrators of this terrible massacre remain unpunished,” she said.
The massacre victims include the wife of Buluan town Vice Mayor Ishmail Mangudadatu and some relatives. Reports said Mangudadatu’s wife and companions – including the journalists – were on their way in a convoy to the provincial capitol in Shariff Aguak to file a certificate of candidacy for governor on his behalf when they were waylaid in a secluded area in Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town by some 100 armed men led by Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. The victims were mutilated and some of the slain women appeared to have been raped.
The head of Maguindanao police, Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay, was relieved of his duties on allegations that he took part in the killings.
Ampatuan, son and namesake of the Maguindanao governor, is also eyeing the province’s gubernatorial post.
Human Rights Watch noted that only six of the hundreds of cases of political killings and disappearances under the Arroyo administration have been successfully prosecuted.
The killings surged after Arroyo's declaration in June 2006 of an “all-out war” against the communist New People’s Army.
Still safe for tourists
Despite the Maguindanao violence, the Department of Tourism said the country remains safe for tourists.
“This kind of incident does not happen everyday and is just an isolated case while tourist destinations in Makati, Boracay, Bohol are safe and still enjoyable destinations for tourists,” Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said.
Durano also called on foreign embassies to be specific in case they would advise their citizens against traveling to the Philippines.
“We cannot stop foreign embassies from issuing travel advisories, but we are asking them to specify the place so that other tourist destinations would not be affected,” he said.
“As far as we are concerned, this isolated case in Central Mindanao will not affect the country’s tourists arrivals since it is not part of the main tourist circuit,” Durano explained.
He added that Davao, CARAGA and Cagayan de Oro, which are the most popular tourist destinations in Mindanao, are far from the site of the recent violence. With Mayen Jaymalin
BAKIT ‘DI MAHULI, TAKOT BA ANG GOBYERNO?
Nina JB Salarzon at Al Jacinto
Abante-Tonite – www.abante-tonite.com
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Halos apat na araw na ang nakakaraan mula nang gimbalin, hindi lamang ang buong Pilipinas kundi ang buong mundo sa barbarikong pagpatay sa mahigit singkuwenta katao na kinabibilangan ng maraming mediamen sa Maguindanao subalit wala pa ring maituro kahit isang suspek.
Sa pahayag kahapon ni Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael ‘Toto’ Mangudadatu na kabilang ang asawa sa minasaker, ngayon pa lamang ay “dissatisfied” na sila sa ginagawang imbestigasyon ng pulisya at nangangambang ma-whitewash ang pagkakasangkot sa krimen ng mga Ampatuan.
Muling itinuro ni Mangudadatu ang angkan ni dating Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., ama ni Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, na nasa likod ng karumal-dumal na krimen.
Kilala ang angkan ng mga Ampatuan na malapit na kaalyado ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo dahil sila ang sinasabing nagpanalo sa kanya sa Mindanao noong 2004 presidential election.
Dismayado na rin aniya ang kanyang angkan sa pulisya dahil mistulang pinoprotektahan pa ang mga suspek.
“Frustrated po ako [dahil] wala pong na-arrest na suspects. Malinaw naman ang ginamit na backhoe. My first witness is a mute witness because heavy equipment ay hindi nakakapagsalita but that is a very clear indication that the Ampatuans were the one that instigated the perpetrators,” diin ng bise-alkalde.
“Ngayon big fish ang nakagawa ng krimen na karumal-dumal na hindi katanggap-tanggap sa buong mundo ay bakit hindi po mahuli, ano ba, takot ang gobyerno?” dagdag ni Mangudadatu.
Nang kumustahin naman ang pulisya kung mayroon nang maituturing na suspek, inamin ni Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina na hanggang ngayon ay wala pa silang natutukoy na suspek.
“It all depends on the statements and depositions that are going to be taken,” sagot ni Espina nang tanungin kung may maituturing na bang suspek, kasama na ang mga Ampatuan at ilang hinihinala ng pulis na kasama sa mga dumukot sa mga biktima.
“Hindi po ako satisfied sa mga naka-assign dito na mga pulis,” dagdag naman ni Vice Mayor Mangudadatu na nagmungkahing ilagay sa isang custodial investigation ang lahat ng mga pulis sa ARMM.
“Ang rekomendasyon namin, lahat ng police ng ARMM ipunin, i-custody at imbestigahan kasi may mga kasali po diyan na nagbaril sa asawa ko,” ani Mangudadatu.
57 na ang death toll
Umabot na sa 57 ang bilang ng mga bangkay na natagpuan sa bayan ng Ampatuan sa Maguindanao habang patuloy pa rin ang paghahanap sa iba pang labi ng mga mamamahayag at sibilyang walang awang kinatay ng mahigit sa 100 armado sa pangunguna diumano ng isang mayor na kaalyado ni Arroyo.
Kahapon ay tatlong sasakyan ang bumulaga sa mga pulis at sundalong naghukay sa isa pang lugar.
Ibinaon ang isang Toyota FX, Vios at UNTV van sa nasabing bayan at sa loob ng mga sasakyan ay nabawi ang apat na bangkay, kabilang na ang mga inosenteng sakay ng kotse na patungo sana ng ospital upang ihatid ang isang may sakit na babae.
Kagabi ay lima pang bangkay ang nahukay kaya umabot na ang bilang ng mga biktima sa 57. Sa ulat ng militar at pulisya, hinarang ng mga armado sa pangunguna diumano ni Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr. ang convoy ng mga supporters ni Buluan Vice Mayor Mangudadatu na kalaban sa pulitika ng mga Ampatuan.
Lumalabas na mahigit 60 katao, kabilang ang 34 mamamahayag, ang dinukot at walang awang pinagbabaril at karamihan ay pinugutan pa ng ulo sa bayan ng Ampatuan. Sa unang ulat ay 41 lamang ang dinukot ngunit sa bawat araw na lumilipas patuloy itong nadaragdagan at tinatayang marami pang bangkay na hindi natatagpuan.
Isa sa tatlong mamamahayag na sana ay kasama sa grupo ng mga napatay kung hindi lamang nagpaiwan ang nagsabing maaaring napigil ang massacre kung nagbigay lamang ng seguridad ang militar sa nasabing lugar.
“Bago umalis ang grupo ay tinawagan pa namin ang 6th Infantry Division at nagtanong kami kung safe ba na magpunta sa Maguindanao, partikular sa Shariff Aguak at safe naman daw ayon sa kanila. Pero parang may duda kami kung kaya’t tumawag uli kami sa 6th Infantry Division at humingi ang media ng escorts, pero hindi sila nagbigay at trabaho raw ito ng pulis.”
“Dahil nga sa duda kaming tatlo ay hindi na kami sumama at may mga di-kilalang tao na nagtatanong sa mga pangalan ng media sa hotel namin sa Tacurong City bago umalis ang grupo ay lalo kaming nagduda at iyon na ang nangyari -- hinarang nila ang grupo ng mga Mangudadatu at media sa Shariff Aguak at saka dinala sa bayan ng Ampatuan at doon niyari na silang lahat,” anang mamamahayag na ngayon ay nagtatago sa takot na ipadukot ng kalaban ni Mangudadatu.
Kinumpirma nitong 34 media ang kasama ng mga Mangudadatu, ngunit
ayon sa militar ay 13 mamamahayag pa lamang ang kanilang nakilala mula sa 57 bangkay.
Mga aksyon at reaksyon
Samantala, hindi na pumapasok sa eskuwelahan ang mga batang Ampatuan at Mangudadatu.
Kinumpirma kahapon ng presidente ng Ateneo de Davao na hindi na pumapasok ang mga anak at kapamilya ng angkan ng Ampatuan at Mangudadatu matapos ang Maguindanao massacre.
Sinabi ni Ateneo de Davao president Antonio Samson, SJ, sa Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-News (CBCP-News), na isa-isa nang hindi pumapasok sa eskwelahan ang mga batang Ampatuan at Mangudadatu simula kahapon. Ani Samson, marami sa Ampatuan at Mangudadatu ang magkakaklase sa Ateneo.
Una nang hiniling ng pamunuan ng eskwelahan at ni Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte sa pamunuan ng PNP na dagdagan ng seguridad ang kanilang campus dahil sa takot na umabot dito ang away ng dalawang pamilya.
Sa kaugnay na ulat, nagkapit-bisig na ang mga human rights advocates sa paglulunsad ng serye ng kilos-protesta bilang pagkondena sa massacre.
Sinabi ni Renato Reyes, secretary-general ng Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), na layon nitong puwersahin si Arroyo na mapanagot ang mga taong may kagagawan.
Bukod sa grupong Bayan, kasama rin sa nasabing pagkilos ang National Union of People’s Lawyer, Karapatan, Gabriela, Promotion of Churches People’s Response, Liga ng mga Kabataang Moro at mga estudyante ng University of the Philippines (UP).
Nag-aalala ang nasabing mga grupo na matutulad lamang ang kasong ito sa mga naunang naitalang extra-judicial killings na binalewala lamang umano ng administrasyon.
Sa kaugnay na ulat, kinondena nina Vice President Noli De Castro, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile at Sen. Loren Legarda ang naganap na karumal-dumal na masaker kasunod ang paggigiit na bigyan ng hustisya ang mga biktima.
“I and the rest of the outraged nation demand swift justice for the brutal killings of the defenseless victims in Maguindanao. Let us send a clear signal to those murderers that law and justice reign in our land. Put the masterminds of this atrocity behind bars,” ani De Castro.
“Those who perpetrated this dastardly crime should be brought to justice, whoever they are, whatever their political affiliations and connections. The whole resources of the state should be harnessed toward this objective if only to assure our people that the government would exert all efforts not just to deliver justice to but ensure peace, orderly and clean election,” pahayag naman ni Enrile.
Isinisi naman ni dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada sa administrasyong Arroyo ang nangyari dahil hindi aniya maglalakas ng loob ang mga killers kung hindi kinukunsinti ng administrasyon ang pamilya Ampatuan.
“Hindi sila maglalakas-loob na gawin iyon kung hindi sila tino-tolerate,” ani Erap sa pamamagitan ng phone patch sa ginanap na forum ng mga estudyante ng University of the East.
Kumbinsido si Estrada na hindi magagalaw ng Malacañang ang pamilya Ampatuan dahil malaki ang utang na loob ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sa naturang pamilya.
Ibinulgar pa ni Estrada sa harap ng mga estudyante na binigyan pa ng Malacañang ng private army at armas ang pamilya Ampatuan na ginamit umano ng administrasyon upang manipulahin ang resulta ng eleksyon noong 2004. (With Bernard Taguinod/Noel Abuel/Jun Tadios)
Massacre probe whitewash looms
The Daily Tribune – www.tribune.net
Thursday, November 26, 2009
A whitewash of the massacre that is now being investigated by several government agencies loomed yesterday as the national police named a close political ally of President Arroyo as the prime suspect in the election-related mass murder of some 57 civilians, among whom are journalists and lawyers, as well as members of the Esmael Mangudadatu clan.
But even as the police pointed to Andal Ampatuan Jr., mayor of Datu Unsay, who is gunning for the governorship which is to be vacated by his father, Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., the Department of Justice (DoJ) also yesterday implied that there is no evidence linking the Ampatuans to the massacre.
DoJ Chief Agnes Devanadera said they are still consolidating evidence but declined to point to the Ampatuan clan as being behind the killings.
“We saw a lot of evidence, including powder burns, meaning they (victims) were shot at close range. So far, we have not seen evidence of rape or beheading,” Devanadera said.
The Ampatuans were nowhere near the site of the massacre, with some members of the Ampatuan clan then in Manila, meeting
with Palace officials in Malacañang when the massacre occurred.
Devanadera also said that the state prosecutors in Maguindanao are too scared to move. “Because of too many deaths, they do not want to return there (Maguindanao), so we go prosecutors who are not from Maguindanao,” she added.
Police on Wednesday named an Ampatuan, a political ally of Arroyo as the top suspect.
“According to the initial reports, those who were abducted and murdered at Saniag were initially stopped by a group led by the mayor of Datu Unsay (Andal Jr.),” national police spokesman Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina said.
The military had previously named bodyguards hired by the Ampatuan clan as the suspected gunmen in Monday’s massacre in which relatives and aides of a rival politician, plus a group of journalists, were abducted and shot dead.
The police spokesman’s comments were the first time Ampatuan Jr has been specifically named as a top suspect in the massacre, which took place in a village on the outskirts of a town that bears the clan’s name.
The Ampatuan son was being groomed to succeed his father, the three-term governor of Maguindanao province on Mindanao island.
Meanwhile, the Palace reaction to the public outrage was much too slow, even as Arroyo vowed that the perpetrators of this massacre will not find the way to escape justice.
“This is not a simple feud between opposing clans. This is a supreme act of inhumanity that is a blight on our nation,” press secretary Cerge Remonde said.
Remonde insisted that Arroyo and the government would act impartially in pursuing justice
“The president is really very angry about this incident,” Remonde said.”The president is very clear that those people responsible, regardless of who they are, should be brought before the bar of justice.”
Human rights groups and some politicians have called for Ampatuan Jr. to be arrested immediately.
Asked if he would be arrested, Remonde said: “I will not telegraph our punches”.
But he said Arroyo had delivered a message to the Ampatuan clan, which has its own private army, not to obstruct the police investigation.
“It is incumbent upon them to cooperate. I think we are not giving them any choice,” Remonde said.
The victims were abducted as they were traveling in a six-vehicle convoy to nominate Mangudadatu as the opposition candidate for governor in next year’s elections.
Mangudadatu yesterday expressed disappointment over the Arroyo government’s seeming inaction against the Ampatuan clan for the gruesome massacre of at least 50 civilians.
Mangudadatu, who lost his wife Genalyn and sisters Farina Mangudadatu and Eden Mangudadatu, the incumbent vice mayor of Mangudadatu town also in Maguindanao, cited the heavy equipment left by the perpetrators in the grave site of the victims as “mute witness” to the massacre in Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town.
“I am frustrated that there was no suspect arrested when it is very clear that the back hoe or what I call “mute witness” is a very clear indication that the Ampatuans were the one who instigated, are the perpetrators,” said Mangudadatu.
Reports said the back hoe is owned by the local government of Maguindanao province.
“There is no other reason for the trip to the capitol except for the filing of my certificate of candidacy and it is very clear that my opponent is Ampatuan. Why is he not being pursued? When ordinary people are accused of killing, they go to jail immediately, now a big fish committed a gruesome crime and unacceptable to the whole world has not been arrested. Is the government afraid?” asked Mangudadatu.
Mangudadatu described the recovered body of his wife with several slits and gun shot wound on her organ, stab wound in the eye, gun shot on the breast, amputated leg and gun shot on the mouth. He also claimed that his youngest sister, Eden, and unidentified auntie were pregnant.
“The term there is not an animal, they are monsters,” said Mangudadatu of the perpetrators of the worst single day killing of journalists in the history with more than 20 media practitioners out to cover an event were massacred.
Mangudadatu called for the investigation and restriction of all police personnel under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa earlier sacked five ranking police official in Maguindanao, including the provincial police officer-in-charge Senior Supt. Abusana Maguid and his deputy Chief Insp. Sukarno Dicay, who was reportedly sighted in the checkpoint where Mangudadatu’s group was taken.
Latest reports from the Army’s 6th infantry Division (ID) showed that 52 bodies have already been recovered from the crime scene, some of them buried with their vehicles. Yesterday, three vehicles -- a Toyota Vios, one Toyota FX and an L300 van -- were dug out of the area, along with four bodies.
There were reports that some of the victims were not actually part of the Mangudadatu’s group but were killed.
The country’s top human rights official on Wednesday challenged Arroyo to go after a politically powerful “warlord.”
Commission on Human Rights chairmanLeila de Lima said Arroyo needed to prove she was not protecting Ampatuan Jr, whose family controls the southern province of Maguindanao and is accused of masterminding the killings.
“I am appealing to President Arroyo to show political will for her to show to the public that the investigation by the government is serious, that swift and decisive action is being undertaken by authorities in order to give justice to the victims, and hold the Ampatuans criminally liable.”
De Lima said Arroyo was politically indebted to the Ampatuan family, who in the 2004 presidential race ensured she won in Maguindanao and in 2007 delivered votes for her congressional candidates.
“The Maguindanao political warlords are really the ones giving crucial, or swing votes to administration candidates,” de Lima said.
“These Ampatuans act like Gods, why are they being tolerated? Their private armies should be abolished. I can’t understand why the investigative authorities, police and the justice department can’t invite the Ampatuans for questioning even if they be assisted by counsel,” De Lima said.
She said initial investigations showed “there is strong circumstantial evidence that the Ampatuans are involved” and the attack “appears to be premeditated”.
De Lima criticized Arroyo’s strategy of merely sending one of her advisers to talk with the Ampatuans on Tuesday and seek an assurance from them that they would cooperate in an investigation.
“They opted for a diplomatic way out. There should do more than that,” she said.
Meanwhile, Speaker Prospero Nograles Wednesday strongly supported the move to declare a state of emergency in Maguindanao and nearby provinces to prevent further escalation of violence in the area.
“We should not countenance anarchy. Government is facing the crisis head-on. The state of emergency should help neutralize further incidence of bloodshed that has again tainted the country’s image before the international community,” Nograles said.
At the same time, the House leader lauded the various media organizations for their continued and fearless vigilance in reporting with objectivity the most gruesome outburst of pre-election violence in the country.
“I am truly appalled by the clear disregard for human lives. It is so painful to see this brutal massacre of unarmed civilians, including women and members of the crusading media,” he said.
Furthermore, the House leader from Mindanao appealed for sobriety and calm as law enforcement and investigating agencies to do their job to ensure that the rule of law prevails.
“It is very important that justice is served, and I am confident it will be,” Nograles added.
“The ongoing operation by law enforcement agencies, spearheaded by the Philippine National Police in coordination with the NBI and the military, under Operation Bakal, should be intensified,” Nograles insisted. With Benjamin B. Pulta, Mario J. Mallari, Gina Peralta-Elorde, Gerry Baldo, Charlie V. Manalo and AFP
Listahan ng mga kinatay AT nawawala sa Maguindanao massacre
By Alfred P. Dalizon
People’s Tonight – www.journal.com.ph
Huwebes, Nobyembre 26, 2009
SAMPUNG mediamen ang kinatatakutang kinatay na rin katulad ng kanilang mga kasamahan na pinatay na parang baboy sa Maguindanao.
Asawa ni Mangudadatu ginilitan ang sex organ, pinasabog
Ayon kay Vice Mayor Mangudadatu, ginilit ang maselang bahagi ng kanyang asawang si Jenalyn ng apat na beses. Pagkatapos ay pinasabog ito ng bala.
Pinana ang dalawang mata ni Jenalyn at binaril ang kanyang parehong dibdib. Pinutol pa ang paa ng biktima, pagkatapos ay pinaputukan ang kanyang bibig.
“My wife’s private parts were slashed four times, after which they fired a bullet into it. They speared both of her eyes, shot both her breasts, cut off her feet, fired into her mouth. I could not begin to describe the manner by which they treated her,” ani Mangudadatu.
Listahan ng mga biktima:
Ang mga nawawalang mga mediamen ay nakilalang sina 1. Ernesto “Bombo Bart” Maravilla, chief reporter of Bombo Radyo Koronadal; 2. Henry Ara --neta -- DZRH ;3. Rannie Rason -- Koronadal City, Periodico; 4. Joel Parcon - publisher Pronterra, Koronadal City; 5. John Caniban -- Gensan, print media; 6. Val Cachuela - Koronadal City, Pronterra; 7. Lea Dalmacio -- Gensan, print media; 8. Art Mascardo -- Gensan, print media.
Ang mga na-recover na bangkay ng mediamen: 1. Joy Dujay -- Mindanao Goldstar Daily; 2. Andy Teodoro -- Mindanao Inquirer; 3. Rey Merisco -- Minda-Now; 4. Ronnie Pernate -- Koronadal, local newspaper; 5. Bong Reblando -- Gensan Manila Bulletin; 6. Ian Subang -- publisher, Socsargen Today; 7. Marites Cabletas -- Gensan, News Focus; 8. Gina dela Cruz -- Saksi, 9. Henry Araneta -- radio reporter.
Ang mga pamilya at supporter ng mga Mangudadatu:1. Jenalyn Mangudadatu -- asawa ni Vice Mayor Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu; 2. Vice Mayor Bai Eden Mangudadatu -- Mangudadatu, Maguindanao province, kapatid ni Vice Mayor Ismael; 3. Bai Farinah Mangudadatu, kapatid ni Vice Mayor Ismael; 4. Cynthia Oquindo-Ayon - abugado ng pamilya Mangudadatu; 5. Atty. Connie Bresuela -- abugado ng pamilya Mangudadatu; 6. Zorayda Bernan; 7. Jun Oquindo -- ex-municipal treasurer Polomolok, South Cotabato; 8. Rahina “Toto” Palawan; 9. Farida Sabdula; 10. Rowena Ante-Mangudadatu; 11. Miriam Calimbol;12. Abdila Ayadi -- driver ng pamilya Mangudadatu; 13. Pinky Mangayan -- kasama; 14. Gipon Cadagdagum -- may ID ng PCA; 15. Wahida Ali Kalim.
Mga pinatay na civilian: 1. Eduardo “Nonie” Lechonsito -- city hall employee, Tacurong City; 2. Wilhelm Palabrica -- driver ng legal officer, Tacurong City; 3. Daryyl Palabrica -- student; 4. Narcia Palabrica -- student; 5. Mercy Palabrica -- student.
Nahukay kahapon ng pulisya ang isang Toyota Vios, UNTV service van at light blue Toyota Tamaraw FX na hininalang may pasaherong ’di naman kasama sa convoy.
Ayon sa pulisya, nagtetext na ang mga biktima sa kanilang mga kamag-anak 11 a.m. pa lang ng Lunes. Pagkatapos ay nawalan na ng contact sa mga miyembro ng convoy. Dahil dito ay nagpadala ang Army ng patrol para mag-imbestiga.
Noong Martes ay lumipad sa Sultan Kudarat si PNP chief Director General Jesus A. Verzosa para tingnan ang imbestigasyon at hot pursuit operation laban sa mga killers.
Anti-torture law test for probers
By Alfred P. Dalizon
People’s Journal – www.journal.com.ph
Thursday, November 26, 2009
MAMANG PULIS -- THROWING its full support to the new Anti-Torture Act, the Philippine National Police said the landmark bill will challenge investigators to extract confession from a crime suspect without subjecting him to any harm.
“The strict ‘no-to-torture’ policy will help us further professionalize the police force since police investigators have to have the patience and wits to extract confession from an arrested criminal offender without subjecting him to any physical or psychological abuse,” said Legal Service deputy director Senior Supt. Rodrigo P. de Gracia.
“Our primordial consideration is the respect for human rights and human dignity. That’s the reason why any form of torture has no place in our organization,” De Gracia said.
PNP chief Director General Jesus A. Verzosa said any officer found violating the “No to Torture” policy will be charged criminally and administratively. He also welcomed the passage of Republic Act 9745 or An Act Penalizing Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and Prescribing Penalties.
“The passage of R.A. 9745 is greatly appreciated at the PNP. This law will provide an even bigger avenue for the protection of human rights,” Verzosa said.
PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Leonardo A. Espina said the PNP respects the rights of every citizen and the Anti-Torture Law will further protect the rights of both the victims and the suspects.
“The Anti-Torture Law will see to it that due process will be followed. A suspect can only be declared guilty if that person has been convicted and the national police respect every individual’s right to remain silent and to defend himself in court,” Espina said.
Verzosa said the “no-to-torture” policy is part of the PNP’s strict adherence to human rights. “Our personnel are strictly required to follow the PNP Operational Procedures or Rules of Engagement,” he said.
Acts of torture include systematic beating, head-banging, punching, kicking, striking with truncheon or rifle butt, food deprivation or forcible feeding with spoiled food, animal or human waste, among others.
