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
Source: http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20091126hed1.html
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