Palace on Ampatuan case: Don't look at GMA
By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) Updated April 19, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang described yesterday as “obscene” allegations that President Arroyo was
behind the exoneration of two Ampatuan family members blamed for the massacre of 57 people in
Maguindanao last year.
Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said such allegations could only further muddle the effort to
seek speedy justice for the massacre victims.
“It is obscene to insinuate that the President would interfere for any kind of political or personal reason in the
legal proceedings of a heinous crime like the Maguindanao massacre,” Olivar said.
“However we may feel about this decision by the Department of Justice (DOJ), let us confine any debate to
questions of law and fact, and let us reject baseless and inflammatory speculations,” he said.
Olivar said the allegations stemmed from “campaign politics.”
“No less than the sensitivities of the victims’ bereaved families, should not be raked up in this tragic affair,”
he said.
He said critics should be sensitive to the feelings of the families of the victims.
Justice Secretary Alberto Agra defended his decision to drop suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and his cousin, Mamapasano town Mayor Akmad Ampatuan from the
charge sheet.
Agra said the two Ampatuans were able to prove that they were not among those who planned and carried
out the gruesome killings.
“I based my decision on records before me, and not because of that,” he replied when asked if the strong
political link of the Ampatuans to Mrs. Arroyo is influencing the case.
Agra, however, stressed the former ARMM governor is not yet off the hook.
Agra said he would pursue rebellion charges against the former ARMM governor insisting that he was
among who led the family and their supporters in an uprising in the province.
While the DOJ believes the former ARMM governor was not involved in the massacre, Agra said Ampatuan
should be held liable for the uprising in the effort to prevent government forces from arresting the other family
members following the massacre last November.
“I also would like to think this will not affect the charges against the other accused in the multiple murder
case,” Agra added.
He said the charges against the clan patriarch, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and son,
Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. would remain.
The principal suspect remains to be the younger Ampatuan since there were several witnesses who saw
him lead several armed men and followers during the carnage.
Agra said the prosecutors have appealed the decision of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 77
dismissing the rebellion case against the Ampatuans.
Agra insisted the suspended ARMM governor and his relatives and supporters went up against the national
government by controlling provincial offices and security forces to prevent their arrest and indictment for the
massacre.
“We already filed a motion for reconsideration before the court, and we are standing by our findings that
there was rebellion in the province and Gov. Zaldy was involved,” Agra explained.
Agra also appealed to families and supporters of victims to understand and respect the rule of law in
prosecuting the Ampatuans. He said Zaldy and Akmad both have strong defense and it would be unfair for
the DOJ to pursue their indictment without strong basis.
He said the aggrieved parties could file motion for reconsideration or elevate the case directly before the
Court of Appeals.
Senior State Prosecutor Leo Dacera said they would respect the decision and drop the two Ampatuans from
the charge sheet.
“It is the court which has prerogative to drop accused after the information was filed. (Quezon City) Judge
Jocelyn Solis-Reyes already determined probable cause in her previous order,” Dacera said.
Supporters and relatives of the Ampatuans cheered the DOJ decision to drop the charges against the former
ARMM governor and the Mamapasano town mayor.
Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong, a relative of the Ampatuans, however said the dropping of
charges against Zaldy does not mean he would reassume his post as ARMM governor.
“He (Zaldy) could not reassume his post because of a suspension order earlier issued against him by the
Department of the Interior and Local Government for gross negligence of duty,” Datumanong said.
He said the DOJ could still hold Zaldy on the charge of rebellion.
“I’m speaking not as a relative of Zaldy or Akmad Ampatuan, but as a former Justice secretary,” Datumanong
said. –With Edu Punay, Nonong Baliao, John Unson
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Massacre raps vs 2 Ampatuans dropped
By Sandy Araneta (The Philippine Star) Updated April 18, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Alberto Agra cleared yesterday two members of the Ampatuan clan
of involvement in the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao last Nov. 23.
Cleared of multiple murder charges were detained Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov.
Zaldy Ampatuan and Mamasapano Mayor Akmad Ampatuan.
Agra directed prosecutors to remove the names of the two from the charge sheet.
Agra, however, said the charges against former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and Datu Unsay
town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. remain.
In clearing Zaldy Ampatuan, Agra said conspiracy was not established. In his decision, Agra acted on a
petition for review filed by the two Ampatuans.
“Existence of conspiracy was not proven and being relatives and having similar surnames does not mean
there was conspiracy,” Agra said.
Agra also said documentary evidence proved that Zaldy Ampatuan was not at the crime scene at the time of
the massacre.
“There’s no proof of conspiracy so it gave weight to Zaldy Ampatuan’s alibi. I cleared Zaldy based on the
evidence he presented, consisting of plane tickets and cell phone records that he was not in Maguindanao
at the time of the massacre, and a witness who testified that he was not in Maguindanao at the time,” Agra
said.
The DOJ chief said he cleared Akmad Ampatuan because the witness, Kenny Dalagdag, did not identify him.
“Second, because he was not included in the charge sheet of the National Bureau of Investigation and the
Philippine National Police (PNP), and third because he had an alibi, that he joined a medical mission
elsewhere at the time of the massacre,” he said.
He said prosecutors would formally manifest before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes the exclusion of the two
from the list of the accused.
“It will depend on the judge,” Agra said when asked if the two Ampatuans would be released.
Agra said he expected his resolution to spark a controversy. “I resolved the petition for review based on
evidence before me and not because it is popular clamor or what,” he said.
Agra also directed the provincial prosecutor of Maguindanao to withdraw all charges of murder and
frustrated murder against a group that included a key witness in the massacre.
Ordered dropped were the separate charges of murder and frustrated murder against Mokammad (also
spelled Mohammad) Sangki, Salik Sangki, Abdila Makalingay, Akmad Sangki, and Teng Pigkaulan.
Mokammad Sangki was a key witness in the Nov. 23 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao in which 57
people - among them political rivals of the Ampatuan clan, their lawyers and supporters and at least 31
journalists - were shot dead and then buried in a hilly portion of Barangay Salman. Some of the victims were
buried in their vehicles.
The real targets of the massacre were the wife and relatives of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu
who were on their way to Shariff Aguak to file his certificate of candidacy for governor to challenge Andal Jr.
In a petition, Zaldy’s lawyer Redemberto Villanueva asked Agra to take a second look at the joint resolution
approved by state prosecutors, which named the ARMM governor as one of those indicted for multiple
murder.
Villanueva pointed out that Zaldy Ampatuan was not even included in the information filed by the Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the PNP against more than 100 people implicated in the
slaughter.
“The governor was in Davao City all along, and it was impossible for Kenny Dalandag, who claimed to be a
member of the private armed group of Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., to insist that Zaldy Ampatuan
was present at a conference purportedly held on Nov. 22 at a compound in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao,”
Villanueva stressed.
He added that the only piece of evidence cited by the panel of prosecutors to justify the inclusion of Zaldy in
the massacre case was the affidavit of Dalagdag.
He said the affidavit was only a “curative information that defies all physical laws since Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan
was in Davao City from Nov. 20 to 22.”
“Curative information have been condemned by the Commission on Human Rights since the filing of such
information against the accused does not cure the inherently illegal character of the arrest and the detention
of those charged,” he said in his petition.
“This defies all physical laws and imbues Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan with the power of bilocality,” he said of
Dalagdag’s affidavit.
“This is a complete fabrication since the governor was in Juan Luna Subdivision in Davao City from Nov. 20
to 22,” Villanueva said.
“Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan flew to Manila for a meeting in Malacañang on Nov. 23 and he took his flight in Davao
City,” he said.
To back up his claim, Villanueva submitted evidence that included receipts from telecommunication
companies that showed the ARMM governor’s calls were made in Davao City at the approximate time that
Dalagdag alleged that Zaldy Ampatuan was in Shariff Aguak.
Witnesses also attested to the presence of the ARMM governor in Davao City.
“Despite such obvious lack of evidence against Zaldy Ampatuan, he was still included in the list of 107
individuals who were indicted on Feb. 5, 2010 by a panel of investigating prosecutors in their joint resolution
for 57 counts of multiple murder,” the lawyer said.
He said Zaldy Ampatuan was arrested on Dec. 4, 2009 on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by Lt. Gen.
Raymundo Ferrer, who was not authorized under the 1987 Constitution to issue arrest warrants.
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