Ampatuan's supporters hold rallies, defend his relatives

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao, Philippines — Some 3,000 supporters of detained Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. yesterday staged separate rallies here to appeal to authorities not to implicate other members of his clan in the Nov. 23 massacre in this province.

More than a hundred mayors and four provincial governors from across the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao also attended the rally infront of the Ampatuan mansion to show their support to their chief executive, ARMM Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan, who was also implicated in the case.

The ARMM governor is the older sibling of Mayor Ampatuan, the prime suspect in the massacre.

The protesters were apprehensive over reports that the ARMM governor would be suspended from office by the Department of the Interior and Local Government for his failure to prevent the incident despite his being chairman of the inter-agency regional peace and order council.

“We don’t want our regional governor suspended because there is no evidence that would link him to the crime,” said Ustadz Mercarder Sarimuang, a foreign-trained Islamic missionary.

A 60-year-old blacksmith, Abedin Tasil, said authorities should first investigate on whether the ARMM chief executive was indeed involved in the massacre or not.

Lawyer Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi, solicitor-general of ARMM, said they have proof that the governor, who has political and administrative jurisdiction over five provinces and more than a hundred towns, was in Metro Manila last Nov. 23.

Guiani-Sayadi showed reporters a copy of Governor Ampatuan’s boarding pass for his flight to Manila prior to the incident.

Also tagged in the carnage were at least four other Ampatuans: Banarin, mayor of Mamasapano; Saudi Jr., mayor of Datu Saudi; Akmad, the acting vice governor of Maguindanao; and Sajid, younger brother of Mayor Ampatuan, and a certain Nords Ampatuan.

Philip Pantoja, counsel for the Ampatuan family, said his group would file a petition for injunction before a local court to contest any plan by the government to suspend any ARMM official as earlier announced by Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

“I don’t think the President’s state of emergency declaration would empower any national official to suspend any local official,” he said, apparently referring to President Arroyo’s placing Maguindanao under a state of emergency.

“We don’t have copies of subsequent directives empowering Secretary Puno to suspend local executives,” Pantoja told reporters.

Supporters massing

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continues to maintain its presence in Maguindanao, amid reports that supporters of the Ampatuans and the Mangudadatus were massing to show sympathy for their respective leaders.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, AFP spokesman, said such actions on the part of the supporters of the rival clans could further aggravate the already tense situation in the area, which is a cause for concern for the military.

“We are considering everything even reports that supporters of the Mangudadatus were massing up, so all of these are being checked by our forces on the ground. This is the reason why we set up checkpoints in and out of Maguindanao to prevent these kind of things,” he said, but added that the supporters were unarmed.

“The first thing would be to try to negotiate with their leaders and try to convince them not to mass up or do any massive actions if they have no permits. We still have procedures, processes to follow,” he said. – Edith Regalado, James Mananghaya