Plunder complaint vs Ampatuans filed

MANILA, Philippines - Seven relatives of victims of the Maguindanao massacre filed a plunder complaint on Friday against 25 members of the powerful Ampatuan clan.

Included in the complaint filed at the Ombudsman are former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., massacre primary suspect and former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Jr., former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Zaldy and their wives and siblings.

Others named in the complaint are: Sajid Ampatuan, Anwar Ampatuan, Yacob Ampatuan, Akmad Ampatuan, Rebecca Ampatuan, Jehan-Jehan Ampatuan, Laila Ampatuan, Baibon Shahira Ampatuan, Bai Farida Ampatuan, Ameera Ampatuan, Michelle S. Ampatuan, Alibai Ampatuan, Shaydee Ampatuan, Bai Zandra Ampatuan, Bai Honee Ampatuan, Lady Sha-Honey Ampatuan, Bhanarin Ampatuan, Soraida Ampatuan, Zandria Sinsuat-Ampatuan, Michael A. Sulaik, Joemar Ayunan Olimpayan, And Kuzberi Lumenda Ampatuan,

The complaint is based on the investigative report of journalist Carol Arguillas who works for MindaNews in Davao.

The complainants are Ramonita Salaysay, Editha Mirandilla Tiamzon, Juliet Palor Evardo, Ma. Cipriana Gatchalian, Arlyn Lupogan, Catherine Nuñez and Myrna P. Reblando.

The complainants are seeking that the Ombudsman charge the named members of the Ampatuan clan for violation of the application provisions of Republic 7080 or Anti-Plunder Law, Republic Act 1379 or Forfeiture Law and Republic Act 3019 or Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act among others.

Listed in the complaint are 35 mansions owned by the Ampatuans in Davao alone. Eight of these are reportedly owned by Andal Sr., 16 by Andal Jr., and two by Anwar. Sajid and Rebecca own 3 houses each.

While the Davao City Assessor’s office has no record of Zaldy owning any house, it is believed he owns a mansion in Juna Subdivision. Zaldy's wife, Bongbong, owns two houses in Davao.

The properties are estimated to be worth P110 million.

Arguilles also discovered that the Ampatuans have 121 vehicles.

Fifty-three are new models of luxury cars, including 3 Hummers, 3 Land Rovers, 2 Suburbans, and 1 Humvee, a military vehicle.

Twenty-six of the vehicles are registered under the name of Andal Sr. but more than half of the cars found in the warehouse of Andal Sr.’s mansion in Maguindanao last December 2009 are not registered with the Land Transportation Office.

The Ampatuans' properties and vehicles combined could be worth P200 million.

The complaint does not include the Ampatuans' assets in Maguindanao, Cotabato City, Sultan Kudarat and Manila.

The victims' relatives who filed the complaint want the government to freeze and retrieve the Ampatuans' assets.

This is not the only plunder case the Ampatuans will have to face. Another group of victims' relatives is also preparing another case.

DOJ orders prosecutors to drop murder raps vs 2 Ampatuans

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) - The Philippine government said Saturday it would drop murder charges against two prominent members of a powerful Muslim clan over the massacre of 57 people last year.

Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan, initially alleged to be two of the key planners of the election-linked killings in the restive south, will be dropped from the list of those accused, Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said.

"I just issued the resolution. I have already instructed the prosecutors to amend the charges to drop them against Zaldy and Akmad," Agra told AFP, although he said lawyers opposed to his decision could appeal in court.

The decision provoked outrage among the relatives' victims, who have repeatedly voiced concern that President Gloria Arroyo secretly intended to protect the Ampatuans because they were long-time political allies.

"This is evidence that the victims cannot get justice under the administration of President Arroyo," said human rights lawyer Harry Roque, who is representing some of the victims' families.

The prosecution in February charged that Zaldy, Akmad and other members of the Ampatuan clan conspired to murder a convoy of political rivals and journalists in Maguindanao province on November 23.

The murder, which shocked the world, was allegedly intended to prevent a rival from running against clan member Andal Ampatuan Jnr for the post of provincial governor in the May 10 national elections.

However Agra said that, after reviewing evidence, the initial decision to charge Zaldy and Akmad was flawed.

"There was no proof of conspiracy and there was a proof of an alibi," he said.

Agra cited airline tickets and cellphone records showing Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan were not in Maguindanao during the massacre as reasons for dropping the charges.

"There is no proof or any document that shows they were part of the planning. They (the prosecution) only had one witness against Zaldy and Akmad."

The Ampatuans are a powerful Muslim political clan that has long dominated politics in Maguindanao.

They were members of Arroyo's ruling coalition and delivered her crucial votes in the 2004 presidential election, but were expelled after the massacre.

Arroyo allowed them to run their own private army as part of a containment strategy against Muslim rebels in the south.

Zaldy Ampatuan had been governor of a Muslim autonomous region in the southern Philippines that encompasses Maguindanao at the time of the massacre. Akmad was the acting vice-governor of Maguindanao.

The patriarch of the clan and the then-governor of Maguindanao, Andal Ampatuan Snr, as well as his son and namesake, remain charged with murder.

Myra Reblando, widow of one of the murdered journalists, said she was not surprised by the decision to drop the charges.

"This is an indication there is no justice under Gloria Arroyo. She will protect the Ampatuans because she owes them," she said.

But Agra insisted he was only acting in accordance with the law.

"They are entitled to their opinion. I am just doing my job... my resolution is based only on the evidence before me, nothing else," he said.

It was not clear when Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan would be released from jail.

They, and the other Ampatuan members, were also charged with rebellion for allegedly trying to resist government efforts to bring the killers to justice.

A court last month dismissed those rebellion charges. But Agra said the government was seeking a motion of reconsideration with the same court.

Ampatuan silencing massacre witnesses: hitman

MANILA, Philippines - A man who says he took part in last November's massacre in Maguindanao province has told Al Jazeera how he now fears he too will be killed as the alleged mastermind of the killings seeks to silence potential witnesses against him.

In an exclusive interview, the man known as "Jesse" told how he had been ordered to kill a witness, and he now fears he will be next after the head of a powerful clan placed a bounty on his life.

"[Datu Unsay] gave the order for me to kill this one guy who could have been a witness against them," he said.

"I did it. If I didn't do as told, they would kill me."

The November 23 massacre in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao was the country's worst single incident of politically-related violence, leaving at least 57 people dead.

The killings are believed to have been masterminded by a leading member of a powerful local clan, Andal Ampatuan Jr., also known as Datu Unsay, in an attack on the family of a political rival.

More than 20 accompanying journalists and some passers-by were also killed in what investigators say was an attempt by the attackers to cover their tracks.

Ampatuan Jr. is now being held in a Manila jail accused of multiple counts of murder, although his trial was recently suspended indefinitely, pending decisions on motions filed by his lawyers.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Jesse admitted he had taken part in the November killings, but said that as an employee of Ampatuan Jr.'s cousin, he had to either kill or be killed.

And he said the attack was carried out not on Ampatuan Jr's orders, but on the orders of his father, the clan patriarch and former governor of the province.

"I was there when they met a week prior and talked about the killings," he said.

"Unsay only does what he is told by Andal Sr… I followed orders too… I fired shots, I don't know how many I hit … if I hadn't - well, we know what Unsay is like."

Now in hiding and using an assumed name, Jesse is awaiting a decision from Philippine authorities on his plea for witness protection in return for his testimony.

In the meantime, he says, Ampatuan Jr. has placed a $45,000 bounty on his head.

Political ties

The Ampatuan clan has fiercely denied any involvement in the massacre.

Ampatuan Sr. has controlled Maguindanao province for most of the past decade and had been grooming his son to take his place as governor in national elections scheduled for May.

The family also had close political ties to Gloria Arroyo, the Philippine president who critics say had allowed the Ampatuans to build up a powerful militia in return for delivering votes.

Marga Ortigas, Al Jazeera's Manila correspondent, says the investigation into the massacre has been seen as a test not only of the Philippine judiciary but of the strength of the country's democracy as a whole.

While dozens of other clan members have been charged in relation to the killings, only one man – Ampatuan Jr. – has so far been brought to court.

With his trial now suspended, many Filipinos are skeptical that the perpetrators of the massacre will ever be brought to justice.

Court authorities have rejected accusations of political pressure and say they are doing the best they can.

In any case, Jesse told Al Jazeera, inside or outside of jail, the Ampatuan clan has a long reach.

"Unsay has been telling his men to be patient, that he'll get out. And when he does, he will punish anyone who turned against them," he said.