Aside from Sanchez kin, Panelo meets with Ampatuans

MANILA, Philippines — Lambasted for secretly meeting with the kin of convicted rapist-murderer Antonio Sanchez, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo yesterday revealed meeting as well with members of the Ampatuan family whose patriarch was tagged as the mastermind of the Maguindanao massacre in 2009.

Panelo, a former lawyer for Andal Ampatuan Jr. in the Maguindanao massacre case, said he met with members of the family after the Office of the President referred them to him.

“They are asking the intercession of the President,” Panelo, also the chief presidential legal counsel, said at a press briefing.

A July 17 letter from the Office of the President-Appointments Office sent to Panelo’s office showed that a certain Jehan-Jehan Ampatuan-Lepail and Bai Soraida Biruar-Ampatuan had requested for a “meeting with Duterte any day in July 2019.”

Soraida is the mother of Datu Saudi Ampatuan Jr., who was tagged in the 2009 massacre that left 58 people, including 32 journalists, dead.

Jehan-Jehan Lepail, meanwhile, is Saudi’s wife.

The letter said Duterte would not be able to meet with Soraida and Jehan-Jehan Lepail due to “hectic schedule” and “engagements that require his utmost attention.” The appointments office referred them to the Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel “for appropriate action.”

The meeting took place last Aug. 13 in Panelo’s office, based on information from the security logbook of the New Executive Building.

“They were asking for advice on what they should do. I said you should surrender your husband,” Panelo said.

Panelo said there was nothing wrong with the Ampatuans seeking Duterte’s assistance because “everybody seeks help.”

Before the meeting, Panelo said a member of the Ampatuan family had met with Duterte in an event organized by the Chinese embassy in Davao. He said he introduced the family member, whom he did not name, to the President but it turned out they already knew each other.

“The President said ‘I heard him – wait for the judgment of the court. It’s now up to the court,’” Panelo said.

Condemnation greeted news of Panelo’s meeting with the family of Sanchez, his former client.

Sanchez was seeking executive clemency, a request that Panelo referred to the Board of Pardons and Parole.

The presidential spokesman earlier said there was nothing wrong with what he did as it was just normal to refer requests that reached his office to appropriate agencies.