Ampatuan house catches fire

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - A mysterious fire before dawn Saturday partially damaged the house of detained massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan, Jr. in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.

Supt. Warlito Daus, regional fire marshal of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said arson investigators are still trying to determine what caused the conflagration that hit the plush residence of Ampatuan, former mayor of Datu Unsay town.

Only a caretaker has been watching over the house since the family of Ampatuan relocated outside of Maguindanao after he and several clan members, including his patriarch, Andal, Sr., former governor of the province, were incarcerated in connection with the Nov. 23, 2009 “Maguindanao Massacre.”

Senior Inspector Marlon Silvestre, chief of the Shariff Aguak police, said the caretaker of Ampatuan’s house was nowhere in sight and investigators had asked relatives to help locate his whereabouts.

Silvestre said police probers had found out that all of the air-conditioning units in Ampatuan’s house were missing.