GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines: The Philippine politician accused of masterminding an election-linked massacre that left 57 people dead surrendered to authorities on Thursday but insisted he was innocent.
Amid rising criticism about the perceived slow response to Monday’s slaughter in the troubled south of the country, authorities finally took Andal Ampatuan Jr into custody while implementing sweeping security measures.
The police immediately filed murder charges against Ampatuan as authorities moved to dismantle his clan’s control over the region.
Ampatuan Jr, a local mayor in Maguindanao province, was flown out from Maguindanao province to Manila by an army helicopter after he was handed over by his brother to a senior government official and a top regional army general.
“The charges are baseless,” Ampatuan told reporters at the airport in General Santos. “They are not true. My conscience is clear.”
Authorities said Ampatuan would be held in a prison in Manila while undergoing investigation by state prosecutors in advance of the complaint going before a local court.
Ampatuan insisted he did not orchestrate the horrifying killings in his home province of Maguindanao, where his family has been a dominant political force for decades.
It was his first public comment since the massacre and came after he peacefully surrendered at his Maguindanao mansion.
Philippine government officials had been negotiating since Tuesday with Ampatuan’s family for him to submit to questioning.
The massacre occurred after about 100 Ampatuan gunmen allegedly abducted a convoy of aides and relatives of a rival politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, plus a group of journalists.
The victims were snatched as they were traveling in a six-vehicle convoy to nominate Mangudadatu as the opposition candidate for provincial governor in next year’s national elections.
They were shot a short time later and dumped or buried in shallow graves on a remote farming road close to a town bearing the Ampatuan name.
Fifty-seven bodies have been recovered so far, nearly half of them believed to be those of reporters, making it the deadliest attack ever on journalists.
Ampatuan Jr is the son of Maguindanao’s governor, a Muslim clan chief of the same name who until this week was a close ally of President Gloria Arroyo’s ruling coalition.
Maguindanao is part of the lawless Mindanao island, where Muslim clans rule vast areas backed by their own private armies, often out of the national government’s control.
Ampatuan Sr had been grooming his son, currently a local mayor, to take over as governor of Maguindanao. The victims’ relatives alleged the Ampatuans organized the murders so that Mangudadatu would not run for that post.
Highlighting the extensive reach of the Ampatuans throughout the power structure of Maguindanao, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said Thursday more than 300 policemen or government militiamen there had been taken into custody.
Puno said he had also recommended to Arroyo that all provincial officials, including Ampatuan Sr, be suspended and that the father be investigated for any links to the murders.
He said the national authorities had not been able to act as quickly as many wanted because local police and soldiers were suspected of being loyal to the Ampatuans.
“It was very difficult for us to rely on the local military and police forces to carry out the directives of the central headquarters on both the armed forces and police side,” Puno added.
National police chief Jesus Verzosa told reporters he would ask the national government to be allowed to replace the entire police force of Maguindanao.
Source: Arab News
Amid rising criticism about the perceived slow response to Monday’s slaughter in the troubled south of the country, authorities finally took Andal Ampatuan Jr into custody while implementing sweeping security measures.
The police immediately filed murder charges against Ampatuan as authorities moved to dismantle his clan’s control over the region.
Ampatuan Jr, a local mayor in Maguindanao province, was flown out from Maguindanao province to Manila by an army helicopter after he was handed over by his brother to a senior government official and a top regional army general.
“The charges are baseless,” Ampatuan told reporters at the airport in General Santos. “They are not true. My conscience is clear.”
Authorities said Ampatuan would be held in a prison in Manila while undergoing investigation by state prosecutors in advance of the complaint going before a local court.
Ampatuan insisted he did not orchestrate the horrifying killings in his home province of Maguindanao, where his family has been a dominant political force for decades.
It was his first public comment since the massacre and came after he peacefully surrendered at his Maguindanao mansion.
Philippine government officials had been negotiating since Tuesday with Ampatuan’s family for him to submit to questioning.
The massacre occurred after about 100 Ampatuan gunmen allegedly abducted a convoy of aides and relatives of a rival politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, plus a group of journalists.
The victims were snatched as they were traveling in a six-vehicle convoy to nominate Mangudadatu as the opposition candidate for provincial governor in next year’s national elections.
They were shot a short time later and dumped or buried in shallow graves on a remote farming road close to a town bearing the Ampatuan name.
Fifty-seven bodies have been recovered so far, nearly half of them believed to be those of reporters, making it the deadliest attack ever on journalists.
Ampatuan Jr is the son of Maguindanao’s governor, a Muslim clan chief of the same name who until this week was a close ally of President Gloria Arroyo’s ruling coalition.
Maguindanao is part of the lawless Mindanao island, where Muslim clans rule vast areas backed by their own private armies, often out of the national government’s control.
Ampatuan Sr had been grooming his son, currently a local mayor, to take over as governor of Maguindanao. The victims’ relatives alleged the Ampatuans organized the murders so that Mangudadatu would not run for that post.
Highlighting the extensive reach of the Ampatuans throughout the power structure of Maguindanao, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said Thursday more than 300 policemen or government militiamen there had been taken into custody.
Puno said he had also recommended to Arroyo that all provincial officials, including Ampatuan Sr, be suspended and that the father be investigated for any links to the murders.
He said the national authorities had not been able to act as quickly as many wanted because local police and soldiers were suspected of being loyal to the Ampatuans.
“It was very difficult for us to rely on the local military and police forces to carry out the directives of the central headquarters on both the armed forces and police side,” Puno added.
National police chief Jesus Verzosa told reporters he would ask the national government to be allowed to replace the entire police force of Maguindanao.
Source: Arab News
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