'Ampatuans' guilt clear as daylight'

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines – Presidential adviser on external affairs Edgardo Pamintuan claimed yesterday that the guilt of the powerful Ampatuan clan in the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao last Nov. 23 “is as clear as daylight.”

“Please note that I have not used the word allegedly in referring to the Ampatuans. For me, their guilt is as clear as daylight,” he said.

Pamintuan also urged the maximum penalty for the perpetrators of the massacre of the victims that included 30 media men.

“Death for them (killers),” Pamintuan shouted with his clenched fist raised, as journalists from various parts of Luzon gathered here last Saturday to mark the second month commemoration of the massacre attributed by witnesses to the Ampatuans, particularly Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao, who is facing multiple murder charges and detained at the National Bureau of Investigation jail in Manila.

The other leaders of the Ampatuan clan headed by patriarch and former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. are now under police custody after Malacañang declared martial law in Maguindanao in the wake of the massacre of 57 people last Nov. 23.

Among those killed were the wife of Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu of Buluan, Maguindanao, and two of his sisters, two female lawyers and 30 media men who covered the supposed filing of certificate of candidacy of the vice mayor who will run for governor of Maguindanao and challenge a scion of the Ampatuan clan.

The Mangudadatus have blamed the Ampatuans for the incident, specifically pointing to Datu Unsay Mayor Ampatuan as the leader of more than 100 armed men who kidnapped and killed Mangudadatu’s supporters.

The Ampatuans denied any involvement in the massacre.

Pamintuan lamented that he belonged to the administration of President Arroyo whose term has been branded as the most deadly for journalists in the country.

He added that in fairness to the President and her administration there is still no proof that the killings of journalists have been perpetrated by the state.

“The Maguindanao massacre was not state sponsored. It was the handiwork of a clan deranged by power,” he said.   

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) said in a statement that the President “was reported to have described the leading members of the Ampatuans as political allies as it noted that the Ampatuans have been credited for delivering votes in their province, in favor of the administration in past elections.

The commemoration was spearheaded here by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Pampanga Press Club whose members have vowed to hold similar activities every 23rd of each month “until justice is served to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.”

The CMFR said that while trial (of the Ampatuans) has started with more than the usual speed, the people, most especially journalists and media workers, should bear in mind that they cannot let down the watch. “Otherwise, even this case can simply be taken over by the kind of clever legal tactics, which have nothing to do with justice,” it said.

“The sad and brutal spectacle of the Maguindanao massacre cries out of yawning gaps in our appreciation of basic liberties and democracy itself,” said Pamintuan, the official candidate for Angeles City mayor of the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

Earlier, journalists from Batangas, Lucena, Cordillera Autonomous Region and Central Luzon delivered a separate statement in commemoration of the Maguindanao massacre. – With Dino Balabo