More witnesses link Ampatuan Jr. to massacre

MANILA – Several eyewitnesses have placed Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. at the scene of last Monday’s brutal massacre of 57 people in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, documents submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed Friday.

The witnesses said they were 25 meters away from the last vehicle on the convoy carrying Genalyn Mangudadatu, wife of Buluan town Vice Mayor Ismael "Toto" Mangudadatu, when they saw the first vehicle of the convoy being stopped by armed men blocking the road.

The witnesses said they thought that the convoy had reached a police checkpoint since there were several police cars blocking the road. At least one of the witnesses said he saw Ampatuan Jr. go to the lead vehicle of the convoy and talk to its passengers.

They said the armed men then started firing their guns while forcing open the windows of the vehicles carrying the Mangudadatu convoy.

Panicked, the witnesses sped off and headed back to Sultan Kudarat. All of the witnesses have submitted sworn affidavits to the DOJ panel investigating the massacre, and are now in hiding.

Another witness interviewed by ABS-CBN said the Ampatuan clan is hiding their firearms from authorities, including those used by in the massacre last Monday. This, despite the military’s announcement that they had disarmed all 347 militiamen under the control of the Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao.

The witness, a government employee, said he would be willing to testify in the government investigation in exchange for protection for himself and his family.

"All of the firearms are in their mansion. The guns that were confiscated were not the ones used [in the massacre]. Those guns are already old. What’s worse is that the guns and ammunition were purchased from the Armed Forces. The issued firearms are long firearms coming from the Philippine National Police provincial command. Those people were killed using guns and ammo from the government," he said.

He added that police cars used in Monday’s massacre were also hidden in the Ampatuans’ mansion.

Nine members of the powerful Ampatuan clan are considered suspects in the brutal murders of 57 people in Maguindanao province last Monday, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said Friday.

Devanadera said that aside from Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., the other suspects on the justice department’s surveillance list are Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, Nords Ampatuan, Maguindanao Acting Vice-Gov. Akmad Ampatuan, Datu Saudi Ampatuan Mayor Saudi Ampatuan Jr., Bahnarian Ampatuan, Sajid Islam Ampatuan, and Akmad Tato Ampatuan Sr.

"They are under investigation and under surveillance," Devanadera said of the eight suspected Ampatuans not in custody. She said immigration authorities had been alerted to prevent them from fleeing the country.

The justice chief said the 9 had varying degrees of participation either before, during or after the canage, based on witness accounts. She said her strongest evidence is the testimony of Buluan Vice-Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu who spoke to his wife before the massacre.

Mangudadatu earlier said his wife told him that it was Andal Jr. who stopped their convoy in Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao last Monday. The wife also said she was slapped by Andal Jr..

Her body and the bodies of 56 other people, including women and journalists, were found in shallow graves on a hilly area in Ampatuan town hours later. The justice chief said most of the women were shot in the genitals and may have been raped before they were killed.

Devanadera said the DOJ has witness accounts that Andal Jr. was at the crime scene and not in the city hall as he claimed during the time of the massacre. She said the DOJ has more than 20 affidavit against the suspects.

Devanadera said the Datu Unsay mayor will face more murder charges, which will be filed on Tuesday. She said her department was unable to file the case on Friday because of a Muslim holiday while Monday is a public holiday.

She said criminal charges will be filed against other suspects in the coming days.

• ABS-CBN

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