‘Andal Sr. would have been convicted too’

MANILA, Philippines —  Had he not died prior to the verdict, clan patriarch and former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. would have been convicted as well of multiple murder, according to one of the lawyers who handled the case.

“The evidence against Andal Jr. will equally apply to him,” private prosecutor Nena Santos told The STAR yesterday, referring to the son of the deceased clan patriarch who was convicted along with 27 others of 57 counts of murder.

Andal Sr. – who had been in detention since his arrest weeks after the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre – died in 2015 due to liver cancer. 

Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes dismissed the murder cases filed against him, citing Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code that extinguishes the criminal liability of accused if they die before the final judgment.

But according to Santos, the 761-page decision of the judge shows that Andal Sr. would have been convicted had he remained a defendant in the case.

She noted several meetings that were held by members of the Ampatuan family to discuss the plan of then Buluan vice mayor and now Maguindanao Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu to run against the clan for provincial governor.

“On said occasion, Datu Andal Sr. said that Datu Toto must be killed because he cannot be prevented from running as governor,” read the decision, referring to a meeting held in Manila in July 2009, months before the massacre.

The Ampatuan patriarch also attended other meetings, including the one held at his farm the day before the massacre.

The prosecution was also able to establish his role on the day of the massacre.

Witness Lakmodin Saliao said Andal Sr. relayed his instructions a few hours after midnight “to bring out the firearms and put red markings on them.”

Saliao also testified hearing him talking to his son Andal Jr., also known as Datu Unsay, and instructing him to kill all members of the convoy except members of the media.

Andal Jr. responded that he would rather kill them all, to which the father supposedly responded “Mabuti (good).”

“Set to loudspeaker, Saliao heard Datu Unsay saying: ‘Ama, ngayon tapos na, ubos na silang patayin (Father, it’s all over, they are all dead).’ After this was uttered, he observed that Datu Andal Sr. was happy and ‘all smiles when he came to know that those people are already dead,’” read the decision.

While he did not personally kill the victims, witness Rasul Sangki testified that Andal Sr. called his son Andal Jr. and relayed the instruction that all passengers should be killed.

This was also corroborated by the testimony of suspect-turned-state witness Sukarno Badal, who supposely overheard the conversation between the father and son after the fifth batch of victims was killed.

“Media na lang ang natira (Only the media are left),” Andal Jr. supposedly said, to which his father responded: “Pa-media, media ka pa, ubusin mo na yan (What media, just kill them all).”

Sources earlier said the elder Ampatuan may have thought that his son was telling him that half of the victims were still alive when he called.

The word “media,” in Spanish, can be loosely translated as average, mean or half.

A few minutes later, Badal said Andal Sr. called his son to clarify what he meant by “media.”

“‘Yung media, mass media,” he told his father, to which the latter replied: “Makukulong tayong lahat (we will all go to jail),” hinting to his son what would become of them if the media were spared.

For Santos, the decision clearly established that the deceased clan patriarch would have been convicted if he was still alive.

Suspect classification

In her ruling, Solis-Reyes classified the over 100 suspects who stood trial into six classifications, depending on their knowledge of the murder plot and their acts in relation to the massacre.

The 28 defendants whom she convicted for 57 counts of murder are those who knew of the murder plot and actually killed the victims; those who knew of the murder plot but performed other overt acts outside of the crime scene; and those who had no prior knowledge of the murder plot but were proven to be actual assailants.

Andal Jr. and his nephews Anwar Sajid and Anwar Jr. were among those that fall under the first category as they participated both in the meetings and the actual killings.

Meanwhile, Amptuan siblings Zaldy and Anwar Sr. – also sons of the deceased clan patriarch – were classified under the second group, with the judge noting that while they did not participate in the actual killings, their actions still “had for their purpose the attainment of their common objective of committing the unlawful act.”

The deceased clan patriarch would have been classified under this group.

The two Ampatuans who were acquitted – Sajid Islam and Akmad – were the only two suspects classified under the group of those who knew of the murder plot but did not commit overt acts that would warrant their conviction.

Sajid Islam is also the son of the late clan patriarch, while Akmad is the latter’s son-in-law.

The judge noted the mere presence of the two at the meetings would not make them liable as conspirators, noting that Sajid Islam never uttered words of encouragement that would influence his brothers to carry out their plan.

While Akmad was heard agreeing to the killing, Solis-Reyes ruled that it “does not necessarily mean that he pushed for the commission of the crime.”

She noted that his scheduled medical mission in Mamasapano on the day of the incident “will show that he did not cling to the agreed plot to kill.”