Category: Maguindanao massacre

Obscene

Published by Ellen on April 20, 2010

It’s so obscene, I can’t find the right words to express my outrage over the gall of Justice Secretary Alberto Agra to clear Zaldy Ampatuan, suspended governor of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao, and his uncle Maguindanao Vice Gov. Akmad Ampatuan Sr. of complicity in the most heinous crime this country has experienced and shocked even the a violence-weary world.

It’s also obscene hearing Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar describe as “an obscenity” the public’s accusations about Malacañang’s role in absolving the two Ampatuans of responsibility in the Nov 23 Maguindanao massacre that claimed the lives of at least 57 people, 32 of them journalists.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility is right. “.. the real and current obscenity in this country is the fact that the alleged president for whom Olivar speaks has become central to the major issues that beset this country, most particularly that of whether there will be a change in its putrid leadership rather than more of the same despite the 2010 elections.

2 Ampatuans to go free

Published by Ellen on April 17, 2010

by Dona Pazzibugan and Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

The government will drop murder charges against two prominent members of the powerful Ampatuan clan in connection with the November 2009 massacre of 57 people, including 31 media workers, in Maguindanao.

Zaldy Ampatuan, the suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and his cousin Akmad Ampatuan, the former acting vice governor of Maguindanao, will be dropped from the list of those accused, Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said Saturday.

The two men were initially alleged to be among the key planners of the massacre that drew condemnation from all over the world.

Agra said he had ordered state prosecutors to exclude Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan from the information sheet filed before the court, and that the prosecutors would formally inform Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes that they were not charging the two with murder.

Asked if the two would now be released, Agra said: “It will depend on the judge.”

Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan were among the family members transferred from detention in General Santos City and Davao City to Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City, on Friday night.

Holding Arroyo responsible for the Ampatuans

Published by Ellen on March 30, 2010

The dismissal by a Quezon City judge of the rebellion case against Maguindanao governor Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr, his son, ARMM governor Zaldy Ampatuan and 22 others should strengthen the case filed by relatives of journalists who were among those killed in the November 23 massacre before the ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission (AICHR).

The journalists’ relatives are holding the Arroyo government responsible for the Nov. 23 carnage. In their suit filed last February, the relatives said “Clearly, all of those responsible for the carnage are agents of the Philippine State. Their acts in connection with the 23 November 2009 Maguindanao massacre are attributable under international law to the Republic of the Philippines.”

This week, three of the petitioners, Glen Salaysay, son of Cotabato City journalist Napoleon Salaysay, Noemi Parcon, wife of Koronadal City journalist Joel Parcon, and Feulen Sumagang, cousin of UNTV reporter Julito Evardo, were in Jakarta, where the AICHR is based, to follow up on their suit accompanied by their lawyer, Harry Roque of the CenterLaw Philippines.

They were most disgusted to find out that the Arroyo government has taken the stand that the Maguindanao massacre that has shocked the world and earned for the Philippines the distinction of being the most dangerous place for members of media is “a domestic legal issue” and international human rights bodies have no business meddling in.

Ampatuans will miss Pacquiao-Clottey match

Published by Ellen on March 11, 2010

by VERA Files When Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao faces Joshua Clottey of Ghana in the ring on Sunday (Saturday in the U.S.) in Texas…

The long arm of the Ampatuans

Published by Ellen on March 9, 2010

by VERA Files Even in detention, Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao continues to issue orders to kill those he suspects…

Ang tawagan ni Arroyo at ni Ampatuan

Published by Ellen on March 6, 2010

Hindi nasama sa report ng Al Jazeera ang parte ng sinabi ni “Jesse” , ang hitman ng mga Ampatuan na ngayon ay gustong mag- state witness, ang parte kung saan sinabi niya kung gaano kadikit ang mga Ampatuan kay Gloria Arroyo.

Humihingi si Jesse ng proteksyun dahil sabi niya kapag makalaya sina Ampatuan, patay siya. Sabi niya, “Hindi lang siya mapera. Malapit kay Gloria. Kapag pumunta si GMA sa Maguindanao sa bahay ng mga Ampatuan, ang tawag ni Andal Ampatuan Jr, mayor ng bayan ng Datu Unsay sa kanya ay, “Ina”. Ang tawag naman ni Arroyo kay Andal Senior ay, “Ama”.

Close talaga sila, ano.

Itong si Jesse ay bodyguard ni Datu Kanor, pinsan at best matalik na kaibigan ni mayor Andal Jr na ang palayaw ay “Unsay”, pangalan ng bayan kung saan siya ang mayor. Kasama siya doon sa masaker at sinabi niyang nambaril din siya. Hindi niya alam kung ilan ang napatay niya.

Ampatuan silencing witnesses:hitman

Published by Ellen on March 4, 2010

Al Jazeera

A man who says he took part in last November’s massacre in Maguindanao province has told Al Jazeera how he now fears he too will be killed as the alleged mastermind of the killings seeks to silence potential witnesses against him.

In an exclusive interview, the man known as “Jesse” told how he had been ordered to kill a witness, and he now fears he will be next after the head of a powerful clan placed a bounty on his life.

“[Datu Unsay] gave the order for me to kill this one guy who could have been a witness against them,” he said.

“I did it. If I didn’t do as told, they would kill me.”

Muzzling the victims to protect Arroyo

Published by Ellen on February 25, 2010

Last Feb. 3, the relatives of 13 journalists killed in the Nov. 23 2009 massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao filed a suit with the Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights to hold accountable the Arroyo government for the carnage that murdered at least 57 people, 30 of them journalists.

The rationale for the charge, which was done with the assistance of CenterLaw Philippines, is simple and easily understandable: All of those responsible for the carnage are agents of the Philippine State.

Harry Roque of CenterLaw yesterday disclosed that Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera (who is supposed not to be holding that position since she filed her certificate of candidacy last Nov. 30) is pressuring the kin of 13 journalists who filed the suit with the AICHR not to pursue it.

Mangudadatu to shake hands with Ampatuan Sr?

Published by Ellen on February 9, 2010

Update: Ampatuan Sr. and 126 others charged with murder.

Someone very much involved in the 2010 elections said Buluan vice Mayor Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu is agreeable to shaking hands with the patriarch of the Ampatuan clan for the sake of peace in Maguindanao.

Mangudadatu’s wife, Jenalyn, his sister, and some relatives were among the more than 57 killed in the Nov. 23 massacre allegedly perpetrated by the Mangudadatus in a fierce rivalry for the control of the province, the second poorest in the country. Thirty of those killed were journalists, who accompanied Mangudadatus’ wife who was to file her husband’s certificate of candidacy for mayor.

Andal Ampatuan, Jr, mayor of Datu Unsay in Maguindanao , has been identified by witnesses as the one who led the massacre. He has been charged with several counts of murder and is detained at the National Bureau of Investigation.

Ampatuan Sr. is in a military hospital in Davao City; his sons Datu Zaldy, Datu Anwar and Datu Sajid are detained in General Santos City with his son-in-law Datu Akmad Ampatuan Sr., husband of eldest daughter Rebecca.

Clans dominate in Maguindanao; 68 Ampatuans, 15 Mangudadatus running

Published by Ellen on February 9, 2010

by Carolyn O. Arguillas
MindaNews

Andal Ampatuan Sr ((December 4, 2009 - Photo by Jeoffrey Maitem/Getty Images AsiaPac)

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/08 Feb) – The Ampatuans, Mangudadatus, Midtimbangs, Sinsuats, Masturas, Sangkis comprise the majority among Maguindanao’s 879 candidates running for 374 posts: two congressional representatives to Congress, one governor, one vice-governor, 10 provincial board members, 36 mayors, 36 vice mayors and 288 municipal board members or councilors.

The Ampatuans lead the list of candidates with 50 carrying the same surname, at least 23 of them directly related to the patriarch, Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr., and 18 with Ampatuan as middle name, according to records of the Commission on Elections (see list in article below)

Among the Ampatuans running are the patriarch, Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr., the three-term governor of Maguindanao who resigned in January 2009 and returned as OIC governor in late 2009 (he was OIC governor when the November 23 massacre in Ampatuan town happened).

He is running for vice governor as an Independent candidate against three others, including his daughter Shaydee Ampatuan-Abutazil. His other opponents are Ma-arouph Bajunaid Candao and Ismael “Dustin” Veloso Mastura.