A powerful politician from the southern Mindanao region was charged with mass murder on Friday after authorities accused him of leading and ordering soldiers, police and other gunmen to kill at least 57 defenseless people in an organized slaughter.
Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao province in the country’s conflict-torn South, was charged with seven counts of multiple murder, the government reported. Until this week, Ampatuan was an ally of President Gloria Arroyo.

“He was the one who gave the instructions. He was among those . . . who killed the victims,” acting Justice Sec. Agnes Devanadera told reporters as she outlined the case against Mayor Ampatuan.

Devanadera announced that the suspect’s father, the leader of the Ampatuan clan and the governor of Maguindanao, was among eight other members of the feared family under investigation and not allowed to leave the country.

“They are now considered as suspects, because their names have been mentioned in the affidavits [of more than 20] complaining witnesses. They are now under surveillance and would be invited for investigation,” she said during a press briefing.

The seven other suspects are Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) of which Maguindanao is part, Nords Ampatuan, Akmad Ampatuan, Saudi Ampatuan Jr., Bahnarian Ampatuan, Sajid Islam Ampatuan and Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan Sr. Zaldy is the other son of Gov. Ampatuan.

When asked if the eight new suspects would be arrested, Devanadera refused to comment, saying that “it is the job of the law enforcement agency” to do so.

Grisly murders

An emotional Devanadera earlier Friday gave the most detailed official account yet of Monday’s election-linked massacre, saying the female victims may have also been raped.

“It was horrible. I cannot begin to describe it,” she also told GMA 7 television network, recounting what she had seen of the bodies as well as the testimony of many of those who had taken part in the killings.
Devanadera said that witnesses told prosecutors that Mayor Ampatuan ordered his private militia of more than 100 gunmen to open fire on the group of people on a remote farming area in Maguindanao.

The gunmen a short time earlier abducted a convoy of aides and relatives of a rival Muslim politician, Ismael Mangudadatu, plus a batch of local journalists.

The group had been traveling to an election office so Mangudadatu’s wife could nominate him to run against Mayor Ampatuan for the post of provincial governor in next year’s national elections.
Fifty-seven bodies have since been recovered from shallow graves in the killing fields close to a town bearing the Ampatuan name.}

At least 22 of the victims were women, police said earlier.
Twenty-seven victims were journalists, and 15 were motorists who were driving past the area at the wrong time, all of whom were apparently killed to eliminate witnesses.

Suspect blames MILF

Mayor Ampatuan, who surrendered to authorities on Thursday, has denied any involvement and blamed Muslim rebels for the killings. In his 40s, he faces life in jail as the Philippines does not have the death
penalty.

The Muslim rebels, from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), dismissed the mayor’s allegation and so did Ismael, who said that Mayor Ampatuan had just sunk into a deeper hole of his own making.

Devanadera said that many of those who took part in the massacre were clear that Mayor Ampatuan was at the scene of the murders, ordered them to open fire and even shot people himself.

She added that some of those who took part in the killings had come forward because of the guilt they felt.

“They were bothered by their conscience,” the Justice secretary said, while emphasizing many had given testimony against their former boss and not just one.

She added that the group of more than 100 gunmen included soldiers and policemen.

The military announced also on Friday that two Philippine Army chiefs with direct responsibilities for the area where the massacre happened had been removed from their posts and placed under investigation.
On the same day, President Arroyo gave Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno blanket authority to suspend all officials of Maguindanao.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said that the objective of such authority “is to help restore normalcy, peace and order and of course to really provide the atmosphere really conducive for an efficient and effective investigation [of the carnage], unfettered by fear or intimidation.”

Gruesome picture

Devanadera painted a gruesome picture of the fate of the women at the hands of the marauding militia.
“Even the private parts of the women were shot at. It was horrible. It was not done to just one. It was done practically to all the women,” she said.

“All the women had their zippers undone. The pants of some were pulled down . . . We have yet to determine whether they were raped. But it is certain that something bad was done to them.”
Maguindanao is part of Mindanao island, where Muslim clans rule vast areas backed by their own private armies, often out of the national government’s control.

Political rivalry

Gov. Ampatuan Sr. had been grooming Mayor Ampatuan Jr. to take over as governor of Maguindanao.
The victims’ relatives alleged that the Ampatuans organized the murders so that Ismael Mangudadatu would not run for that post.

Mangudadatu, whose wife and four other relatives were murdered in the massacre, also on Friday lodged his nomination for governor.

On orders of Devanadera, all nine Ampatuan suspects were placed on the watchlist of the Bureau of Immigration to prevent them from leaving the country.

According to her, the multiple-murder case against Ampatuan Jr. would be filed in Cotabato City on Tuesday, December 1.

She said that the mayor would remain in custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) even if the 36-hour detention period has lapsed without a case filed as he had signed a detention waiver.

The case, Devanadera added, was to be filed on Friday, but it was a Muslim holiday in Cotabato City.
She said that she has made a formal request to Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno for the transfer of the case from Cotabato City to Manila to ensure a fair trial and the safety of the witnesses.
Many of the judges in Cotabato City, the Justice chief pointed out, are either related to the Ampatuans or the Mangudadatus.

Palace seeks closure

Malacañang also on Friday vowed to put closure to the massacre and serve justice to the victims because it was the only way “to redeem our honor in the eyes of the world.”

In a statement, Press Secretary Remonde said, “We must satisfy the cry for justice from the families of the victims. And this we are resolved to do. But the issue has transcended private grief. Our reputation as a civilized people is now at stake.”

“The government, under the able leadership of President Gloria Arroyo, is determined to get to the bottom of this blot on our collective conscience,” he added. “We are a civilized country. We are aware of our duties and responsibilities. We will not rest until we can take our place once again among the ranks of the civilized world.”

Remonde appealed to the families and supporters of the victims for calm and restraint, noting that law enforcement agencies are working overtime to solve the crime.

“It should be sufficient for me to say that the machinery of the government is now working to take the suspects into custody and to secure the witnesses,” he said.

AFP, WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL, ANGELO S. SAMONTE AND SAMMY MARTIN