zaldy ampatuan calls on a “friend”, gloria macapagal arroyo. arroyo is his alibi and malacanang confirms the alibi – maguindanao massacre update

zaldy ampatuan

the efforts at finding justice for the maguindanao massacre victims is to say the least taking a very bizarre twist and they are very disturbing – zaldy ampatuan, one of the main suspects in the massacre is making president arroyo his alibi, saying he was with arroyo in malacanang during the day of the massacre.  

Zaldy Ampatuan, former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), had claimed that he and Representatives Yusop Jikiri and Munir Abison and other political leaders of Sulu were in Malacañang on Nov. 23 to discuss with Ms Arroyo how to resolve the electoral conflicts in the province.

source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091231-244761/Up-to-court-to-call-Arroyo-on-alibi-of-Ampatuans

 

malacanang does not deny the meeting took place. in fact malacanang confirmed the meeting took place, it was just that arroyo attended the meeting briefly.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde confirmed this in a radio interview but said that Ms Arroyo attended the meeting only briefly. He also said that she had since severed her ties with the Ampatuans.

source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091231-244761/Up-to-court-to-call-Arroyo-on-alibi-of-Ampatuans

 remonde based on his statement has actually confirmed the alibi of ampatuan as true. remonde said the meeting did take place, it was just that arroyo was in the meeting briefly. that to me confirms ampatuan’s alibi and that can mean the case of the government against zaldy ampatuan may mean a dismissal of the charges.

we have not read the affidavit that ampatuan executed and thus we do not know exactly what he said there. we have also not read the charge sheet the government has lodged against this ampatuan.

just based on this news article, it seems malacanang is attacking the issue at a very wrong angle and at an angle that gives room for ampatuan to be freed.

ampatuan is raising two issues in his affidavit : (a) he was not at the place of the massacre when it occured, he was at malacanang and (b) arroyo can attest to his innocence.

As for Zaldy Ampatuan’s claim that Ms Arroyo could attest to his innocence, Bello said: “That’s his claim. It’s up to the President to either affirm or validate it, contradict or repudiate it.”

gloria macapagal arroyo and "friend" zaldy ampatuan at her left

based on their statement here, malacanang placed a lot of effort at  disassociating arroyo from ampatuan. they are making a big deal on their claim that ties have been severed with the ampatuans.

they have not done that satisfactorily, as even cabinet secretary bello said it will be up to arroyo to confirm or deny that ties have been severed with the ampatuans.

i do not understand malacanang’s  obsession on that point. ties or no ties, the most important part is to get a conviction of the ampatuan. what is more important is to establish the whereabouts of ampatuan if the government’s case on the ampatuans is centered on an allegation that he is at the scene of the crime or that meetings among the accused occurred on that day. it really does not matter from a conviction standpoint whether ties have been severed or not. that will not matter in court.

it looks like malacanang seem to think it matters a lot perhaps on the point of view public opinion or image building for the president. malacanang seem to be still smarting from the big time screw up of lorelei fajardo, ex-presidential spokesperson who said that arroyo continue to be “friends” with the ampatuans even after the massacre. (read here, click:  lorelei fajardo, presidential spokesman quits or fired? or this one: Memo To: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo – fire Lorelei Fajardo, the Maguindanao Massacre aftermath)

malacanang seem to have forgotten the most important point and this point is what may set ampatuan free – where was ampatuan during the day of the massacre?

the government indictment seem to say he was at the scene of the crime. ampatuan claims he was not there but he was with arroyo in malacanang meeting with her. remonde’s statement seemed to have confirmed the alibi made by ampatuan.

i don’t get it – why would the lawyers of the government include in their charge sheet an allegation that ampatuan was at the scene of the crime when it appears he was not there? an alibi that says the accused is with the president of the country in a meeting in malacanang seems pretty strong to me.

it does not seem likely that ampatuan will use an alibi, being with the president, if he it is not true and if it cannot be proven. it is an alibi that can easily be proven false if it really did not occur. this is the president of the country, the courts will of course believe the president.

the paper trail on the meeting occurring must be long and solid. there will be airline tickets, hotel bills, the malacanang guest list and of course photos of the meeting.

there is so much irony here.

• we have the potential of this ampatuan being saved by the president of the country, the one person who is supposed to want ampatuan in jail, if the alibi is proven true
• if the alibi is proven true,  ampatuan, the alleged mass murderer will be proven to be telling the truth while the president of the country or at least malacanang will be proven as telling a lie
• if the alibi is proven true, it will mean the statement of the president of the country will enable ampatuan to walk free
• the government prosecutors and investigators will be showing in a grand scale their incompetence in this case – for including a false allegation in their charge sheet
• if arroyo’s statement proves the alibi is true, then the friendship between arroyo and ampatuan will be proven in court as truth
• in that case, fajardo should have not been fired. why fire a person for telling the truth?

 

‘Up to court to call Arroyo on alibi of Ampatuans’ 
By Jocelyn Uy, Norman Bordadora, TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:16:00 12/31/2009

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Wednesday shrugged off the Ampatuan family’s denial of involvement in the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao.

“These are matters subject to rules of evidence and testimony, so it’s difficult for us to comment. It’s up to the courts to determine the truthfulness of the claims of the Ampatuans,” Gary Olivar, one of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s spokespersons, told the Inquirer by phone.

Zaldy Ampatuan, former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM), had claimed that he and Representatives Yusop Jikiri and Munir Abison and other political leaders of Sulu were in Malacañang on Nov. 23 to discuss with Ms Arroyo how to resolve the electoral conflicts in the province.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde confirmed this in a radio interview but said that Ms Arroyo attended the meeting only briefly. He also said that she had since severed her ties with the Ampatuans.

Alibi

Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III, also a member of the ruling party and a former justice secretary, said the ARMM governor was laying down an alibi by claiming that he was at the Palace at the time of the massacre.

As for Zaldy Ampatuan’s claim that Ms Arroyo could attest to his innocence, Bello said: “That’s his claim. It’s up to the President to either affirm or validate it, contradict or repudiate it.”

Bello also said that it was up to the courts to decide whether or not to summon Ms Arroyo in order to determine the veracity of Zaldy Ampatuan’s claim.

“Whether you’re an ally or not, it has no significance to the case. If you’re found guilty, you should suffer the consequences of your misbehavior,” Bello said in reaction to observations that the ARMM governor’s claim had revived reports of the Ampatuans’ close ties to the President.

The Ampatuans were long-time political allies of the President.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t there at the meeting. There was no way of validating the claim of Ampatuan. My assumption is he’s laying the ground for his defense. That’s part of his defense, which is an alibi,” said Bello by phone, adding:

“If it’s true, he has a right to say it. If it’s not true, that will later be established.”

question need to be answered: how did the ampatuans amass so much arms and ammunition?

i think the question, “how did the ampatuans mass so much arms and ammunition?” deserves a separate and parallel investigation. this i think ranks very close in importance to the most important question on who were the killers of the 57 dead.

it’s shocking to read in the newspapers that military officers and men are shocked to see the kind and the number of arms and ammunition the ampatuans have. one of the officers even said the ampatuans have certain high powered arms that are very rarely used and very few elite members of the armed forces are able to use.

everyone are so amazed by the quality and quantity of the arms and ammo but we do not read enough news on exactly what the government are doing to find out how the ampatuans were able to get them. many of them are still in their shipping cartons with markings of the “Department Of National Defense” and the “AFP”. they obviously came from the AFP/DND itself.

the soldiers and police of the philippines themselves should push for a thorough investigation of this matter so that it can be plugged and stopped in the duture. they should be concerned it is these arms from the warlords who are killing the AFP soldiers and police in the fields. any military person know that one of the more effective ways to fight terrorists and rebels in mindanao is to deny them arms and ammo. without them, they obviously cannot wage war on the afp and the police.

but we have not heard anything from the government.

maguindanao – the wealthy ampatuans rule over squalor and poverty

we are printing in full here this article, it  says maguindanao is the 2nd poorest province in the country and yet the ampatuans, their family members controlling practically all of maguindabao live in wealth and comfort.

Wealthy Ampatuans rule over squalor
By Cecil Morella
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 14:51:00 12/06/2009

SHARIFF AGUAK— Ulambay Sinsuat was grilling fish when armed troops poured into a pair of palatial homes near her hovel and detained two of the most powerful men in the southern Philippines.

As dawn turned to day, Sinsuat watched hundreds of residents flee when they realized Maguindanao province had been placed under martial rule following an election-linked massacre of 57 people blamed on the region’s ruling clan.

The troops’ targets were the clan’s chief and provincial governor Andal Ampatuan Sr, as well as one of his sons Zaldy Ampatuan, the head of a larger Muslim autonomous area in the southern Philippines.

But Sinsuat, a 44-year-old fishmonger, did not have the luxury of fleeing the provincial capital of Shariff Aguak on Saturday, illustrating a miserable rich-poor divide that critics say the Ampatuans perpetuated in Maguindanao.

“We can’t leave because we don’t have money,” Sinsuat told AFP as flies swarmed around her grilled carp and mudfish that lay unsold in the town’s near-deserted public market.

“We live just behind Governor Zaldy’s mansion. The smoke from grilling the fish would sometimes waft into his backyard. But our house is tiny, it’s just a hut.”

The Ampatuans’ mansions, with their huge courtyards containing fleets of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, are rare monuments to wealth in Maguindanao, officially ranked the country’s second poorest province.

The province is situated on one of the most fertile river valleys in the country, but it has no signs of industry or economic activity except for tiny farm plots and small public markets.

The roads that branch off from the main national highway, where sheep and geese cross, are rutted or unpaved, even though the local government receives and is meant to disburse tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues.

The Philippines’ economic planning ministry says 63 percent of Maguindanao’s population of 711,000 are poor, with 342,000 residents earning less than one dollar a day.

The area has been ruled virtually unchallenged by the Ampatuan patriarch for nine years, and he installed many of his relatives into top provincial posts during a reign critics say was characterized by violence and fear.

Sixteen out of the 22 towns have mayors belonging to the Ampatuan clan, with lesser posts also occupied by relatives and allies.

The national government, the clan’s close allies until the November 23 massacre, now accuse it of using state funds to arm hundreds of militia members, some of whom allegedly took part in the killings.

One clan member, Andal Ampatuan Jr, has been charged with 25 counts of murder and police have filed indictment papers saying the clan leaders detained in their mansions on Saturday should also be charged.

The nation’s human rights commissioner, Leila de Lima, said the Ampatuans’ reputation as warlords was widely known well before the massacre, which was allegedly carried out to stop a rival from running for governor next year.

Raids in Maguindanao following the declaration of martial law on Friday night have uncovered a stunning array of weapons and ammunition that the government insists the Ampatuans illegally amassed.

Documents that could show the Ampatuans rigged elections may also have been uncovered.

“We dug up bandoleers (shoulder belts for bullets) and documents over there yesterday,” said Private First Class Domingo Igat, pointing to a huge Ampatuan-owned warehouse across the road from the Shariff Aguak municipal hall.

“They included voters’ registration forms, voters’ identification cards. They tried to burn them before they buried them, but not all the documents were burnt.”

The Ampatuans had been close allies of President Gloria Arroyo and members of her ruling coalition for many years.

Their support helped Arroyo win the 2004 presidential election against popular movie star Fernando Poe, amid widespread allegations of poll cheating in Maguindanao.

The Ampatuans were expelled from the coalition only in the wake of the massacre and revelations of the clan’s activities in the media.