Mayor Charged With Multiple Counts Of Murder In Massacre Of 57 Filipinos

November 26, 2009 10:05 a.m. EST

Mindanao, Philippines (AHN) - Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., son of the patriarch of a powerful clan in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao where politics is ruled by private armies, has been charged with multiple counts of murder for the deaths this week of 57 people. The victims include members of a rival clan, the Mangudadatus, lawyers, two dozen journalists, and people who happened to be at the same place at the time of the killing, the deadliest election-related violence in the Philippines and the worst attack against journalists in recent memory.

The wife of Buluan Vice Mayor Ismael Toto Mangudadatu was on her way on Monday to file her husband's candidacy papers for governor, a campaign that would have pitted the vice mayor against Ampatuan, who was seeking to succeed his father as governor in next year's elections. Mangudadatu had sent his wife and other female members of his clan to file his election papers with the belief that his rival would not attack the women.

According to authorities, the convoy of six vehicles carrying Mangudadatu's wife, two lawyers, security personnel and 30 journalists was ambushed by about 100 armed men, who killed the victims in an area 10 kilometers from the national highway in Barangay Malating. Fifty-seven bodies have been found so far by investigators, some buried together with the vehicles, others with hack marks, and women with signs of having been raped.

The victims include a pregnant woman, and several local officials who were not part of the convoy. Employees of the city government of Tacurong and the local National Economic Development Authority office who "happened to be there [at the highway]" were killed, Senior Supt. Willie Dangane said on Tuesday.

Among the 30 journalists, 24 have been found dead, Justice Acting Secretary Agnes Devanadera said on Wednesday. A small group survived the tragedy because they separated from the convoy and made a stop at a gas station.

A backhoe with a marking indicating it as the property of the Maguindanao provincial government and Ampatuan's father, the governor, was found parked near where the bodies were recovered. Officials say the machine may have been used by the suspects to dig the graves.

Ampatuan was charged late Thursday at the Regional Trial Court of General Santos City, where he was flown by helicopter. He was later flown to Manila, where he now is detained in the National Bureau of Investigation. Officials had called his arrest a "turn-over," fearing an escalation of violence. The surrender was facilitated by Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza, who accompanied the mayor as he was taken into custody.

Ampatuan has denied being the mastermind of the massacre.

"Napakadali para magbintang. Dapat may evidensya. Wala ka akong kasalanan. Ang may kasalanan ay MILF [ It is easy to accuse someone, but there should be evidence. I am innocent. The guilt lies with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front ]," he told reporters in Filipino at the National Bureau of Investigation.

A province shaped by the rivalry of political clans, Maguindanao is part of a region that has seen centuries of strife between Muslims and Christians, who make the majority in Asia's first Roman Catholic nation.

A separatist movement was successfully halted with a peace agreement in 1996 with the Moro National Liberation Front. However, the insurgency has continued with the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf, a group known to behead its victims and that has been classified by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization.

The Army has taken control of the Maguindanao provincial capitoland the local government in the towns of Ampatuan and Shariff Aguak. The National Police has put the entire police force in Ampatuan town under investigation, and four will be charged for allegedly participating in the executions. Several police chiefs have been relieved of duty, including those in Ampatuan and the regional director in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Earlier, the government declared a state of emergency in Maguindanao, as well as in Cotabato City and Sultan Kudarat. All civilian Army volunteers, called CAFGUs, have also been disarmed.

The administration of President Gloria Macapaga Arroyo has assured "forceful" and "relentless" action against the perpetrators, amid intense public outcry about the pace of the investigation and concerns of a whitewash. But it also pointed out in a press release that Ampatuan "was not handcuffed when he was taken to National Bureau of Investigation."

Arroyo's party, the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD, on Wednesday expelled Ampatuan, his father and his brother, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Regional Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan from the coalition.

International organizations had appealed to the Arroyo administration to act quickly and aggressively to bring justice to the victims.

"We have often condemned the culture of impunity and violence in the Philippines, especially Mindanao," Reporters Without Borders had said. "This time, the frenzied violence of thugs working for corrupt politicians has resulted in an incomprehensible bloodbath. We call for a strong reaction from the local and national authorities."

On Wednesday, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement, condemned the "brutal killing" and expressed his "heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. He urged that "no effort be spared to bring justice and to hold the perpetrators accountable."