Martial law set in Maguindanao?
By John Unson and Mike Frialde (The Philippine Star) Updated December 05, 2009
12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - Amid reports that martial law will be imposed today in Maguindanao, government
forces raided several homes of the Ampatuan clan, seizing weapons and ammunition that police said were
enough to arm an entire battalion.
On Thursday, military and police teams raided the mansion of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.,
principal suspect in the Nov. 23 massacre in Maguindanao, seizing several high-powered guns and
stockpiles of ammunition hidden in a compartment under a concrete stairway of the house.
Quoting unnamed sources, the abscbnnews website reported last night that President Arroyo had given the
go-signal for the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao effective today.
The go-signal was reportedly given amid reports that supporters of the Ampatuans were preparing to fight
back.
Palace officials said last night that martial law was discussed but no decision was reached on its
imposition during a National Security Council meeting earlier in the afternoon. They said it was not the main
agenda at the meeting, which they said focused on warring clans with private armies as well as the peace
talks with Islamic separatists.
The searches went on until yesterday when the raiding teams uncovered more than 260 boxes of
ammunition of assorted calibers, 22 assault rifles, customized sniper rifles, handguns and various gun
accessories that were buried in a vacant lot adjacent to the houses of Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and his father, former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said the number of firearms seized
was enough to arm 1,000 troops, or a battalion of soldiers or policemen.
Some of the weapons and crates of ammunition uncovered bore “government arsenal” markings as well as
the name of its manufacturer, Arms Corp. of the Philippines (Armscor), with the manufacture date stamped
October 2008.
Among the high-powered weapons seized were two 90RR (recoilless rifles), one 57RR, three 60mm
mortars, two 81mm mortars, four M60 machine guns, an AK-47 rifle, one HK11 sub machinegun, a 50
caliber Barrett sniper rifle, one Ultimax light machine gun, a Bushmaster 5.56 automatic rifle, two Browning
Automatic Rifles, one FAL automatic rifle, one M4 5.56 rifle, four 9 mm automatic handguns, seven .45
caliber pistols and several boxes of assorted ammunition.
Lawmen also unearthed gun replacement parts and several military uniforms at the site about the size of a
basketball court.
Verzosa said the search for more weapons is continuing.
He said the military and policemen, armed with metal detectors and bomb sniffing K-9 units, have started
serving search warrants on four other houses owned by the Ampatuans.
The Army’s 6th Infantry Division spokesman Col. Jonathan Ponce said the soldiers accompanied the
policemen in raiding the Ampatuan mansions.
“They are looking for guns, bullets, everything. The (search) warrant covers everything,” Ponce said.
The lawmen did not make any arrests during the raid but questioned the household members of the
Ampatuans.
It was a tense situation during the raid as Maguindanao Gov. Sajid Ampatuan only watched helplessly as
battalions of government troops and policemen stormed the mansions of his relatives in search for more
weapons.
Television footage showed the governor crying as an armored troop carrier entered the gate of his
compound and with the clan's security men lying face down on the floor.
A policeman was also shown using a hammer to bore a hole on a concrete wall that was apparently part of
the guardhouse of Ampatuan Jr.’s home.
The footage showed ammunition boxes being pulled out from the hole as other lawmen stormed Ampatuan
Sr.’s home but found no weapons there.
Ponce said some residents have been providing information on other possible hidden arms cache sites in
the province.
He said the military would expand their search for more weapons cache to other towns outside Shariff Aguak.
Verzosa added their information led the police to the location of the buried arms cache.
“Through an information, we were able to trace where the firearms were buried. There is the possibility that
those weapons might have been used in the massacre. Or they could have been used by other armed
groups in Maguindanao before,” Verzosa said.
Verzosa said their initial investigation revealed the arms stockpile was recently buried. He noted the buried
weapons were unearthed a few meters from the house of the Ampatuans.
Verzosa admitted though the distance of the house to the site where the arms cache was uncovered is not
enough to prove that the Ampatuans owned the buried weapons.
“But in this continuing investigation, we will see to it who witnessed the burying of the firearms. Then we will
establish the connection. Proximity maybe an indicator of the persons involved,” he said.
Pilferage
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Victor Ibrado immediately ordered an inventory of the
seized firearms from the Ampatuans.
AFP chief spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said Ibrado has tasked Brig. Gen. Jovencio Magalzo, the
military’s Inspector General, to lead the investigation to determine if the seized firearms and ammunition
formed part of the military’s stockpile.
“The investigation will cover past and present commanders on the ground in Central Mindanao,” Brawner
said.
Brawner said the seized weapons are now being stenciled to determine their origin on the possibility that
may have been part of the police and military stockpile.
“If it turns out that those who have retired were behind these armed pilferage, we will go after them,” Brawner
said.
Brawner said ballistic tests would be conducted if the weapons were used in last week’s massacre.
“The investigation will involve checking of the serial numbers of the firearms and checking, matching these
with our records and then matching the lot number of the ammunition with our records,” he said.
The military also dispatched more troops in search for Senior Inspector Saudi Mokamad, the police officer
suspected to have kept the firearms used in last week’s massacre.
Mokamad, commander of the 1507th Police Mobile Group in the province, was reportedly seen near the spot
where the arms cache was buried a day after last week’s slaughter.
The police officer reportedly went AWOL after he was named as among the primary suspects in the
massacre.
The military added Mokamad was among the police officers manning the checkpoint at a remote farming
road in Barangay Salman near Ampatuan town that blocked the six-vehicle convoy of the Mangudadatus on
Nov. 23.
Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu’s wife Genalyn led the ill-fated convoy to file her husband’s
certificate of candidacy to run as governor of the province in next year’s elections.
Some 30 journalists accompanied the convoy when Ampatuan Jr. allegedly led his armed militia in the
attack by seizing the victims before slaughtering them.
“There are continuing operations by our intelligence units to help the police find (Mokamad). We are calling
on the public to help the government find this man,” Ponce said.
Soldiers and policemen raided the house of Mokamad in Cotabato City but found only an M-16 rifle and
dozens of ammunition.
Neighbors told raiding lawmen that they have not seen Mokamad since the massacre occurred.
Intelligence sources said Mokamad was last seen leaving the provincial capitol of Shariff Aguak driving a
vehicle carrying several sacks that contained the firearms reportedly used by the gunmen in the carnage.
Senior Superintendent Willie Dangane, chief of joint Task Force Alpha investigating the massacre, said they
would file additional charges of illegal possession of firearms against Ampatuan Jr.
Dangane said similar charges are also being readied against Ampatuan Jr.’s cousin, Hadji Akmad
Ampatuan after raiding lawmen seized a 12-gauge shotgun from his house.
Dangane said they would first determine the owners of the large cache of firearms that the lawmen had
unearthed yesterday beside the Ampatuan mansions before filing the charges.
Detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said the discovery of the huge arms cache only confirmed earlier
suspicions that warlords and other rogue groups are being supplied and sourced from military arsenals.
“This corrupt and condemnable practice has not only led to the sacrifice of countless lives of soldiers, law
enforcement officials and innocent civilians but has been fueling the endless war in Mindanao and other
volatile areas,” Trillanes said in a statement.
Former ARMM governor Nur Misuari also said the large cache of weapons seized was an indication of
possible connivance of corrupt military officials.
The former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chief said the large quantity of firearms and ammunition
seized would come only from the military stockpile.
“How can a single clan collect such quantity of weapons in such a short period of time?” Misuari asked.
Misuari appealed on the government to go after other warlords in Mindanao that had been stockpiling
weapons.
“We are calling on the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of National
Defense, for the safety of the citizens, (that) they must abolish these unlawful institutions,” he said. –With
Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude, James Mananghaya, Perseus Echeminada, Rose Tamayo-Tesoro
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GMA can run, Palace insists
By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) Updated December 05, 2009 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang maintained yesterday that the Constitution allows President Arroyo to run
for a lower elective post.
The statement was issued after senators said the Supreme Court may have to decide on the
constitutionality of her candidacy for representative of the second district of Pampanga.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde read to reporters portions of the transcript of the deliberations of the
members of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution.
“Based on the plain language of the 1987 Constitution and the intent of the framers of the members of the
Constitutional Commission, the President is only barred from seeking reelection for the same position, i.e.,
the presidency. The ban is perpetual. The President can run for any other elective office,” Remonde said.
Citing the article of constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas, he said members of the commission were tackling
three options regarding the president’s term: no immediate reelection, no reelection, and unlimited number
of reelection.
During the deliberations, Florenz Regalado, a member of the commission, inquired with fellow
commissioner Hilario Davide whether a president can be allowed to run for a lower elective position.
“He (president) can. He is only banned from reelection, meaning to the same office, but not from running for
any office. So the wording is very clear: the president shall be ineligible for any reelection,” Remonde said
quoting from the article.
“In other words, while an elected president cannot or is not eligible to run for the presidency for the second
time, he or she can do so for other elective positions,” Remonde said.
Hard time
Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., meantime, believes that President Arroyo will have
a hard time becoming House speaker if she plans to do so once elected as representative of Pampanga’s
second district.
“It is not President Arroyo’s choice if she will become Speaker, but I do not believe she will be one,” Villar
said, stressing that the Speaker of the House is chosen by his or her colleagues.
Villar, however, said he does not have any intention of meddling in the affairs of Congress if he gets elected
as president.
As this developed, senators defended yesterday Vice President Noli de Castro from attacks that he will be
unable to lead the country effectively if he succeeds President Arroyo once she bows to pressure to resign
from office to pursue her congressional bid.
Opposition Sen. Pia Cayetano said it is unfair to cast doubt on the ability of De Castro as he is the
constitutional successor to Mrs. Arroyo.
An administration ally has said that the Vice President would be incapable of leading the government if the
President steps down for her congressional bid.
“Vice President Noli de Castro was elected to his post by the Filipino people. He is the constitutional
successor to the President in the improbable scenario that Mrs. Arroyo suddenly decides to resign out of
delicadeza after casting her candidacy for a congressional seat in Pampanga,” said Cayetano, who is
running for senator under the NP.
“Many times in the past, the Vice President has been the favorite punching bag of Mrs. Arroyo’s apologists
whenever calls mount for her to step down, including at the height of the Hello Garci controversy, the NBN-
ZTE scandal and now, after filing her candidacy to run for a lower position,” Cayetano said.
“So why not give Noli a chance to prove his worth and run the country, even in the last days of this regime?
They’ve insulted and belittled his position and capabilities too far.”
Unlike Mrs. Arroyo, Cayetano said De Castro was never involved nor linked to corruption scandals,
unexplained killings and massacres.
She added that unlike Arroyo, De Castro has decided not to run for any position in next year’s elections, thus
making him an ideal “transitional leader” until the reins of government are handed over to the next president.
Even Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III told a television interviewer
that he would not allow Mrs. Arroyo to become Speaker if he wins the presidency.
He said even if there are only a few LP members who are seeking congressional seats and who may win,
he and other party leaders would make sure that the Speaker would be an Aquino administration ally.
“We will move fast to gain a majority in the House. Having been congressman for nine years before
becoming senator, I know the political dynamics (in that chamber),” he said.
Aquino did not go into specifics, but he was obviously referring to the possibility that a House run by Mrs.
Arroyo and dominated by her allies could hold hostage his legislative agenda.
Worse, the President and her supporters could impeach him.
For the past four years, critics of Mrs. Arroyo have been trying to oust her through the impeachment process.
However, administration allies in the House had thrown out every impeachment complaint that had been
filed against her for alleged lack of substance.
No complaint had reached the plenary consideration stage. Each impeachment case was killed in the
committee on justice.
There are speculations that Mrs. Arroyo wants to be Speaker so she could push for Charter change (Cha-
cha) that would shift the nation to the parliamentary system, under which she could aspire for the job of
prime minister.
If she becomes prime minister, she could continue to enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution and evade
plunder and other criminal charges that her critics are raring to file
against her once she steps down.
As Speaker, she could also thwart or delay the filing of such charges against her, or evade arrest.
Members of Congress do not enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution.
Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, a staunch ally of Mrs. Arroyo, said if Aquino wins the presidency, he could block
a possible quest by the President for the position of Speaker and No. 4 official of the land.
He recalled that when Fidel Ramos was elected president in 1992, most of the congressmen elected with
him were members of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) who were not allies.
“They were loyalists of the late Speaker (Ramon) Mitra. You will remember that President Ramos bolted the
LDP and formed Lakas Tao and later won the presidency with the support of the late President Cory Aquino,”
he said.
But Ramos and his allies moved fast to control the House and installed Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia
as Speaker, Suarez said.
“The same thing happened when Erap (Joseph Estrada) was elected president in 1998. Lakas members
led by Manny Villar defected to Erap’s camp and Villar became Speaker,” he said.
Less than three years later, it was Villar, as Speaker, who railroaded the transmittal of the impeachment
complaint against Estrada to the Senate. Three months later, Estrada was forced from the presidency.
Asked what makes congressmen defect to the camp of the winning presidential candidates, Suarez said, “It
is the President who dispenses pork barrel funds.” - With Christina Mendez, Jess Diaz
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