Category: ampatuan

Poems for the fallen

Ed Lingao Leave a comment

TODAY, 57 months after the Ampatuan Massacre, justice has yet to be had for 58 people who were murdered on a hilltop in the village of Masalay in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao province.

Exactly 57 months ago today, armed men believed to be under orders from some members of the Ampatuan family, brutally killed the victims who were on their way to deliver the certificate of candidacy of Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu who challenged the Ampatuans for the governorship of Maguindanao province.

Thirty-two of the victims were journalists and media workers.

The multiple murder cases against more than 100 accused – including some members of the Ampatuan clan that were identified as the alleged masterminds – have dragged on for years. Lately, private prosecutors made public their disagreement with the decision of public prosecutors to rest the case against 28 of the co-accused. Some families of the victims have also confirmed attempts by the Ampatuan family to pay them millions of pesos in exchange for withdrawing from the case.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called the Ampatuan Massacre as the single deadliest attack against journalists. The International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) has declared November 23 as the International Day to End Impunity – a day that IFEX has dedicated not only to the victims of the massacre but all those who have been targeted for “exercising their right to freedom of expression, and to shed light on the issue of impunity.”

PCIJ’s Julius D. Mariveles and Cong B. Corrales read their poems in this slideshow of photos taken by Mariveles in 2010 at the massacre site during the first year commemoration.

Mariveles’ poem written in Hiligaynon is titled “Lima Ka Napulo kag Walo,” 58 in the local language, and talks about the slow grind of the wheels of justice. Corrales’ “Ang Pinakamadilim na Tanghali” or “The Darkest Noon describes the Ampatuan Massacre.

Today, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines is leading the commemoration rites at the NCCP Grounds, Quezon Avenue, EDSA. Those who want to attend are requested to wear black.

What happened to the truckloads of money from Ampatuans’ houses in 2009?

Ellen Leave a comment

One of Ampatuans' mansions. Thanks Froilan Gallardo of Mindanews for the photo.

One of Ampatuans’ mansions. Thanks Froilan Gallardo of Mindanews for the photo.

The aborted P50 million each settlement with the relatives of 14 (of the 58) victims of the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre with a certain Jun Chan raised the question,“”Where was that huge sum of money supposed to come from?”

There is no chance to ask Chan the identity of his principal because Mylah Reyes-Roque, in an article for VERA Files, said the settlement was signed third week of February and Chan was killed when his vehicle was ambushed on his way to his farm in General Santos City last March 25.

Although the relatives of the victims met only with Chan accompanied by someone introduced only to them as “Prof”, they were sure that the principal of the two were the former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr and members of his family who are the primary suspects in the massacre because the deal involved their signing an affidavit of desistance.

The deal would involve P700 million at P50 million each in exchange for their signing a quit claim and for them to pin the blame on now Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu.

Zaldy and Andal Jr arrested.

Zaldy and Andal Jr arrested.

Again, the question, “Where was the money supposed to come from?” The Court of Appeals has ordered frozen the houses and vehicles of the Ampatuans mentioned in the March 2010 article by Carol Arguillas for the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism upon the petition of the Anti-Money Laundering Council. The AMLAC has a pending petition for forfeiture of those assets at the Regional Trial Court. But nothing is reported of cash confiscated from the Ampatuans.

The settlement strengthens the fear voiced out by concerned citizens that the Ampatuans were able to stash their much, much bigger loot and they are using it to buy off their freedom.

Days after the Nov 23 massacre, there were reports of crates of money being hauled out of the houses of Ampatuans. A source said he saw a video by a TV network of about eight or nine container vans loaded with crates of money coming from the Ampatuan house.

There were talks that some of the trucks went to Sultan Kudarat while some went to Davao.

A Dec. 10, 2009 news item in ABS-CBN online said that “… almost all of the (Ampatuan) houses have vaults that contain weapons and cash.

The report further said: “According to a source from the police, the cash of the Ampatuans, hidden in various locations, aggregate to about P1.3 billion.

“Another source said total cash could reach up to P3 billion since the Ampatuans prefer to stay liquid instead of stashing them in bank accounts or other financial instruments that are regulated.

Andal Ampatuan, Sr.

Andal Ampatuan, Sr.

“In the latest raid conducted by the military on several Ampatuan homes in Maguindanao, no cash was retrieved. Authorities suspect the family was able to hide the money before martial law was declared over the province.”

There are also ARMM sources said that martial law in Maguindanao imposed on Dec. 4, 2009, 11 days after the massacre, actually helped the Ampatuans in securing their ill-gotten wealth.

It should be mentioned that the relatives of the victims had to haul AMLAC to the Ombudsman before it initiated proceedings to freeze the assets of the Ampatuans several months after the massacre.

The talk that Ampatuans prefer to have cash instead of keeping money in banks is supported by the incident on April 26, 2009, when then Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was held briefly upon arrival at the Los Angeles airport with $6 million in cash.

Ampatuan was going to Las Vegas to watch the May 2, 2009 Manny Pacuiao’s fight with Ricky Hatton.
Law enforcers monitoring the activities of the Ampatuans said the once powerful clan bets big on the Pacquiao fights. There was one Pacquiao fight that the family won as much as P750 million.

A bodyguard of one of the Ampatuans identified as Jessie interviewed by VERA Files in March 2010 confirmed the practice of the Ampatuans of bringing huge sum to the US everytime there was a Pacquiao fight as he was one of those tasked to carry the bags full of cash.

Jessie, who had offered to be a witness against the Ampatuans, was later killed in Parang public market in Maguindanao.

The Ampatuans had no known means of income aside from government funds. Maguindanao is one of the country’s poorest provinces.There’s a huge sum of ill-gotten wealth stashed somewhere and it’s being used to distort justice to free the perperators of the a most heinous crime this country has witnessed.