PNP monitoring 23 Ampatuan houses

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Police (PNP) is closely monitoring the 23 mansions of the Ampatuans and the movement of family members all over the country.

This developed as security forces discovered another arms cache buried at the ranch owned by former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. in Datu Hoffer town in Maguindanao yesterday.

The latest find further bolstered suspicions that the Ampatuans are hiding more weapons and scattering them to evade being discovered.

On Friday, the military and police raided four mansions owned by the Ampatuans in the provincial capitol and seized a sizeable number of weapons and ammunition that authorities said were enough to arm a battalion of troops.

Aside from the four mansions in the provincial capitol, the Ampatuans also own five houses in Cotabato City, three in Tacurong City, nine in Davao City, two in Koronadal City in South Cotabato, one in Cavite, one in Dasmariñas Village in Makati City, one in San Andres Bukid in Manila, one in Barangay Palanan in Makati City and another in Tandang Sora, Quezon City.

PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said the Ampatuans and their security escorts are staying in the mansions but stressed there is no evidence yet linking them to the Nov. 23 massacre.

The PNP have taken pictures of the Ampatuan mansions, including the lot locations, and their neighborhoods.

In several subdivisions, the Ampatuans own the whole block, with several houses for their security escorts.

Several members of the Ampatuan clan, including the patriarch, have been detained for their alleged involvement in the Nov. 23 massacre following President Arroyo’s declaration of martial law in the province Saturday.

The police are determining whether the Ampatuans living in the 23 mansions were involved in the massacre.

“We are monitoring who among the Ampatuans are in the said mansions and whether their escorts are heavily armed. We will make arrests once evidence shows they are involved in the massacre case,” a police intelligence official said.

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) led by Director Roberto Rosales is coordinating with the PNP’s Aviation Security Group and the Maritime Command to monitor the movements of the Ampatuans and prevent them from sneaking weapons in or out.

Among the weapons seized from Ampatuan Sr. in Datu Hoffer were two M60 rifle grenade launchers, 13 M16 rifles, three M1 Garand rifles, eight M16 rifles with M203 grenade launchers, two AK47 assault rifles, one M1 carbine, two Ultimax light machine gun, two Galil sub machine guns, as well as 12 boxes of ammunition for M14 and another six boxes for M16 rifles and 500 rounds of .50 caliber for the heavy machine guns.

A joint team of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents and operatives of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) also raided the mansion of suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan in Juna Subdivision in the provincial capitol but found no weapons there.

Lawmen also swooped down on the other houses of the Ampatuans in Nova Tierra Village and in Marfori Subdivision, also located in the provincial capitol.

Authorities, however, failed to secure a search warrant for the mansion of Ampatuan Sr. in Juna Subdivision, located a few meters away from the ARMM governor’s residence.

The sheer number of weapons and ammunition supposedly seized by the authorities from the Ampatuans bolstered suspicions of pilferage of the military’s stockpile of weapons.

Some of the weapons and ammunition seized bore government markings.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado immediately ordered an inventory of the seized firearms and ammunition to determine if they formed part of the military’s stockpile.

Lawmakers also wanted to trace the origin of the seized weapons.

Sen. Richard Gordon said he would initiate an investigation at the Senate on how part of the government arsenal ended up in the hands of the Ampatuans.

“We (at the Senate) have to know,” said Gordon, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense.

“If they were stolen, someone is still liable. If they were given, was it political,” he said. –With Edith Regalado, Michael Punongbayan