Military closes net on Ampatuan clan

Manila: More than 3,000 military men were posted at the mansion of a powerful Muslim family in the south in preparation for the arrest of five more clan members who were recently indicted for the political massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao on November 23, officials told Gulf News.

This is in preparation for the serving of warrants of arrest to several members of the Ampatuan clan who could be charged with murder.

Andal Ampatuan Sr, a three-term governor of Maguindanao, and other members of his powerful clan were indicted by State Prosecutors on Wednesday in connection with the massacre of 57 people, said Presidential Adviser on Mindanao Affairs, Jesus Dureza, also head of the Maguindanao crisis committee.

Government forces have sealed off the mansion of the Ampatuan clan in Shariff Aguak, limiting their movement and the entry of visitors, said Dureza, adding: "We want to preserve any evidence related to the murders."

"Members of the clan are not allowed to leave their mansion. Their movement is limited but not restricted. We are still allowing people essential to them to talk to them," said Colonel Leo Ferrer, commander of the Army's 601st Brigade.

Family members

Lawyer Philip Pantoja questioned the military's move to limit the visitors of the Ampatuans, saying there has been a "mansion arrest" at the expense of Ampatuan family members who have yet to be proven guilty.

Some 400 soldiers, sent to the home of the Ampatuan clan and the local government offices in Maguindanao province yesterday, beefed up security forces at the crisis site, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner said.

"Right now the security is very tight in the area. We are stopping their supporters from entering their home," Brawner said.

After his arrest on November 26, Andal Ampatuan Jr, Mayor of Datu Unsay, was charged with 25 counts of murder based on the complaint filed by Buluan town Vice Mayor Ismael "Toto" Mangudadatu. He will face more charges after the death certificates of the 57 victims are processed.

Ampatuan Jr's brother, Zaldy, is being investigated for not carrying out his duties as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

Investigation

Maguindanao is one of the five provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The Philippine National Police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PMP-CIDG) have asked the justice department that four more members of the Ampatuan family and six others be charged for murder in connection with the massacre.

Police said that Ampatuan Jr and 100 of his gunmen shot dead the wife, two sisters and 20 supporters of Vice-Mayor Ishnael Mangudadatu whose certificate of candidacy as governor of Maguindanao was supposed to be filed on November 23.

Some 30 journalists, who were assigned to cover the event, were also killed as well as 15 motorists who were not part of the six-car convoy to the office of the Commission on Elections in Shariff Aguak.

Vice-Mayor Mangudadatu, his brother, and three other witnesses filed their testimonies against the Ampatuans in a regional trial court in Cotabato City last Tuesday. The aim of the shocking carnage was "to stop me from running against the young Ampatuan," said the vice-mayor.

Arroyo criticised

The governor of an autonomous area for Muslims in the southern Philippines asked the Supreme Court to declare President Gloria Arroyo's declaration of state of emergency in the region as unconstitutional following the murder of 57 people by suspected members of his clan.

"The power to discipline erring officials or employees lies with the regional government (of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or ARMM)," argued lawyer Sigfrid Fortun on behalf of Zaldy Ampatuan, the ARMM governor, whose younger brother, Andal Ampatuan Jr, Mayor of Datu Unsay, was pinpointed by witnesses as the alleged mastermind behind the killing.