MILF denies coddling massacre suspects

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Thursday refuted insinuations it is coddling suspects in the Nov. 23, 2009 “Maguindanao Massacre,” which left 58 people dead, more than half of them media workers.

Von Al-Haq, spokesman of the MILF’s military arm, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), said harboring fugitives and terrorists is against their July 1997 General Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities with the national government.

Al-Haq also denied circulating stories that many of the massacre suspects, among them Bahnarin Ampatuan, a grandson of the detained former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., have already joined the MILF.

Al-Haq said MILF forces in Central Mindanao, through the joint ceasefire committee, are willing to help in arresting massacre suspects if found in any area covered by the ceasefire.

Burglars, vandals keep attacking

The Maguindanao provincial peace and order council (PPOC) is planning to enlist the help of the government-MILF ceasefire committee in protecting the surroundings of the memorials at the spot, where 58 people were massacred three years ago.

The PPOC’s presiding chairman, Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, announced Wednesday that vandals and burglars have been attacking the massacre site at Salman area in Barangay Masalay in Ampatuan municipality.

Three solar-powered overhead lamps worth P83,000 have just been stolen from the site, according to Mangudadatu.

He said he had ordered the provincial police to secure and protect structures at the massacre site.

The site has been transformed into a shrine as a reminder of the country’s worst election-related violence. The spot where the massacre victims were killed is about two kilometers away from a roadside detachment of local members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit.

“These attacks by vandals and burglars were in total disrespect of the memories of the people that perished in that massacre,” Mangudadatu said.

Burglars have earlier plucked the G.I. roofing sheets on a makeshift shelter also within the massacre site.

The governor has constructed a bigger multi-purpose covered structure several meters from the main monument constructed at the spot where his wife, Genalyn, was buried by her killers.

Bloody trail

Escorted by relatives and journalists, Mrs. Mangudadatu was to bring her husband’s  certificate of candidacy for governor at the provincial capitol in Shariff Aguak town, when gunmen, allegedly led by Datu Andal Ampatuan, Jr., flagged them down, herded them at Salman area and shot them with assault rifles and machineguns. 

The Ampatuans were known for their “zero” tolerance for political opposition and their clan’s iron-fisted policy in dealing with enemies.

Ampatuan Jr., then vice mayor of Datu Unsay municipality, was their clan’s supposed candidate for governor in the 2010 gubernatorial race in Maguindanao.

Mangundadatu said he will visit the massacre site Friday to light candles and pray for the victims. The trial of the suspects in the murder cases is still underway.

Mangudadatu said he is also appealing to the judiciary to reconsider a recent ruling prohibiting the live coverage by media of the proceedings on the massacre case.

“We want justice. We are yearning for justice,” Mangudadatu said.

Gunning for 2nd term

Mangudadatu is seeking a second term under the administration’s Liberal Party. He is the party’s provincial chairman for Maguindanao.

Mangudadatu’s slain wife left him eight children. The eldest of them, Datu King, is aspiring for vice-mayor of Buluan, in the second district of Maguindanao, in next year’s local elections.

The newly-installed commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, Major Gen. Ronnie Ordoyo, said they have fielded hundreds of combatants around the massacre site to ensure a peaceful commemoration of the third anniversary of the gruesome incident.

Ordoyo said all of their security preparations are being closely coordinated with the MILF through the government’s ceasefire committee.