'Ampatuan Sr. real brains behind massacre'

MANILA, Philippines - A local official in Maguindanao has tagged former Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. as the “real brains” behind the Nov. 23 massacre in a sworn statement executed at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday.

The local official, who was transferred from General Santos City to Manila last Wednesday, corroborated previous testimonies pointing to the former governor's son, Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., as the leader of more than 100 gunmen who directly participated in the crime.

In his affidavit given before NBI special investigator Roger La Sususco, the local official said he was in a Sanguniang Bayan meeting when Ampatuan Jr. summoned him on the morning of Nov. 23.

He said he was with the mayor when Inspector Sukarno Dicay, Maguindanao provincial police deputy chief, radioed and informed Ampatuan Jr. that the Mangudadatu convoy had already passed Tacurong City and was heading to Maguindanao.

The wife and sister of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu led the convoy that was heading to Shariff Aguak to file the certificate of candidacy for governor in behalf of the vice mayor.

The witness said in his affidavit that Ampatuan Jr. ordered Dicay to allow the convoy to pass and enter the province.

He said that in Dicay's second radio message, he informed the mayor that the convoy had reached Sitio Malating, Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town.

It was at this time that Ampatuan Jr. allegedly told his men to get ready. When the mayor received another message from the provincial police official, he ordered all his men to head to Sitio Malating, the witness added.

As soon as they arrived, the witness said Ampatuan Jr. approached one of the vans of the Mangudadatus and he saw the mayor pull out a woman.

"I saw that he was pulling out a woman from the van, but the woman was struggling, then I heard shots," the witness told investigators.

The witness said the other women, including the two sisters of Vice Mayor Mangudadatu, were forced back into their vans.

The witness added that the women were "hit with the butt of the gun, dragged, kicked, slapped, boxed (when) they refused to follow the order."

The witness said he tried to hide in one of the police vehicles parked at the scene of the crime, but Ampatuan Jr. found him and ordered him to join him in another vehicle.

"For fear, I acceded," the witness said, adding that while they were inside the vehicle, Ampatuan Jr. talked on his handheld radio and said, "Ama, naiaden silan (Father, they're already here)."

The witness said the person that Ampatuan Jr. talked to replied, "Katawan nungka den ngin e gulan nungka (You know what you have to do)."

The witness said the voice of the man was very familiar to him. He said it belonged to Ampatuan Sr.

A laughter of triumph

As soon as the order was received, Ampatuan Jr. told his men to gather all the victims in a particular location.

"All passengers were ordered to disembark. They were crying and begging for mercy," the witness said in his affidavit.

"Gathering all the courage I could muster, I asked Datu Unsay (Ampatuan Jr.) what we will do then. He madly told me to keep quiet as he was tired. Instead, he asked me where we would bury the captives. I asked him again if we could just talk it over and spare life. He was mad and shouted at me to stop talking as he was tired," related the witness.

"I just kept silent," said the witness, who said they proceeded to a hilly portion, where all the passengers were ordered to disembark.

"Everybody was so afraid and they were crying and begging for mercy," he recounted.

"After gathering a number of persons, Ampatuan Jr. positioned himself around two meters from these people and aimed his high powered firearm at them. He started shooting them as soon as they were brought in front of him," the witness continued.

He said most of the victims were on their knees, crying and begging for mercy.

In fact, the witness said, he saw one mediaman, a familiar face, whom they called Pal-ak, pleading for his life. He told Ampatuan Jr., "Ako ito, Datu. Maawa ka. Si Pal-ak ito, Datu. Wag Datu (This is me, Datu. Have mercy. This is Pal-ak Datu. No, Datu)."

But the witness said Ampatuan Jr. shot him anyway.

The witness said that after all the passengers had been killed, including more than 20 women and 30 journalists, he heard Ampatuan Jr. give a triumphant laugh.

"He laughed at the top of his voice, as if he was proud of what he did," the witness said.

Police had said that the massacre victims were killed and buried in two mass graves in Barangay Saniag, Ampatuan town.

In the name of the father

Despite being present at the scene of the crime, the witness vehemently denied firing his gun. He said he hid in one of the vehicles so that Ampatuan Jr. could not see him, but said he witnessed what actually transpired because he took a peek once in a while.

To further bolster his claim that Ampatuan Sr. was the real brains behind the massacre, the witness said he heard Ampatuan Jr. tell his nephew Saudi Ampatuan Jr. alias Datu Sham, "Lo ka demon sa kay Ama. Mangangapa kobo sa order in Ama (Go to Father. I'll just wait for Father's orders)."

Datu Sham is the mayor of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town and the grandson of Ampatuan Sr.

He said he heard the order of Ampatuan Jr. to Datu Sham because he was there. He was earlier ordered by Ampatuan Jr. to go to a hut in Sanlag where they met before proceeding to the remote hillside in Barangay Salman where the victims met their tragic end.

The witness also revealed that he saw other members of the powerful Ampatuan clan shoot the victims.

He identified them as Kanor Ampatuan, cousin of Ampatuan Jr. and vice mayor of Salibo, Maguindanao; Banarin Ampatuan alias Datu Ban, vice mayor of Mamasapano, Maguindanao; Mama Ampatuan; Sukarno Badal, vice mayor of Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao; and Pando Zangkala Gogo.

He said Badal shot the victims who refused to get out of their vehicles.

The witness said he was sure nobody survived the shooting.

"In fact, after the shooting, he (Ampatuan Jr.) ordered his men and some policemen to still shoot the bodies, which they did. His people, except those who seemed to be in charge of guarding of the perimeter, fired at the victims. I saw someone was using an M-60 machine gun," said the witness.

While he was on his way to Malating, the witness said he saw a backhoe arrive.

A backhoe, which was used to dig the graves of the massacre victims, was left at the crime scene. It bears the name and logo of the government of Maguindanao.

Fearing for his life, the witness said he did not report the incident to authorities.

Corroborative statement

Another witness said he heard successive gunbursts after seeing three black pick-up vans, loaded with heavily armed men in military uniform, pass in front of his house. He remembered one of the men as Ampatuan Jr.

The other witness gave a seven-page statement to special investigator Henry Roxas Jr. and testified that the armed men were carrying Garand, M-14, M60, and short firearms like .45 caliber pistol and .38 revolver.

He said he approached the group and heard Ampatuan Jr. alerting his men that the "target" was fast approaching.

The witness said he was even instructed by Ampatuan's men to leave the area and bring his family with him.

Together with his neighbors and his family, they fled to the nearby MNLF camp.

He also positively pointed to Dicay and Chief Inspector Rex Ariel Diongon as among those he saw with Ampatuan Jr.

Army secures four towns

As this developed, elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Task Force Tugis and the Philippine National Police's (PNP) 11th Regional Mobile Group recovered last Friday afternoon an AK-47 rifle and an M16 Bushmaster rifle in Cotabato City as the search for guns suspected to have been used in the massacre continued.

A report reaching Camp Crame said the AK-47 rifle with serial number 1951hk5195 and the M16 rifle with serial number 379758 were recovered at the compound of the regional governor's office.

The guns were brought to the office of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said search operations in 10 different locations in Maguindanao since the imposition of martial law last Dec. 5 have so far yielded 1,001 different types of high-powered firearms and crew-served weapons.

A high-ranking official, on the other hand, confirmed that three members of a law enforcement agency believed to be involved in the massacre are due to surrender next week.

The official said over the weekend authorities were lobbying for the surrender of the three, two of whom were police officers assigned in Maguindanao.

An intelligence report said the suspects are being kept in a safehouse in General Santos City.

Inspector Saudi Mokamad, team leader of the police mobile group who stopped the Mangudadatu convoy, peacefully surrendered after the intervention of Emmanuel Fontanilla, one of the Ampatuans' lawyers.

Another suspect, PO1 Salik Haron, one of the bodyguards of Ampatuan Jr., surrendered in General Santos City.

The PNP and the military are still tracking down the remaining Ampatuan men in the remote area of Sultan sa Barongis town in Maguindanao.

To forestall the possible security vacuum that may arise from the surrender of the suspects and firearms, the Army's 6th Infantry Division fielded hundreds of soldiers in four Maguindanao towns.

Gen. Anthony Alcantara, 6th ID commander, said CVOs in Datu Piang, Rajah Buayan, Buluan and Talayan voluntarily turned over their firearms to the military even if they were not implicated in the massacre.

Ampatuan Jr. to plead insanity?

Meanwhile, a lawyer for the victims of the massacre raised yesterday the possibility that Ampatuan Jr. is preparing to act crazy and use insanity as defense.

"The supposed fear of ghosts as reported in media and his body language on television may be part of a scenario to make him look like a mad man," lawyer Jose Aspiras said.

Aspiras, part of the team of private prosecutors for the victims of the massacre, said they would help government prosecutors seek the services of independent forensic and medical experts to counter the possible plea of insanity by the principal suspect.

"We will demolish any attempt to use insanity as defense and we will help the prosecution build up a strong case against those responsible for the mass murder," he said.

Aspiras said the manner in which the massacre was carried out and the attempt to bury the victims and the vehicles with the use of a backhoe are proof that the killing was well planned and not the handiwork of a mad man.

"Insanity is the last resort to evade criminal prosecution," he said. - With John Unson, Rose Tamayo-Tesoro and Perseus Echeminada