Ampatuans seek SC help vs warrantless arrests

The Ampatuan family has asked the Supreme Court to stop the government from enforcing warrantless arrests against members of their clan implicated in last week’s grisly massacre of at least 57 people in Maguindanao province. "The Ampatuans are asking the Supreme Court to issue a [temporary restraining order] to stop government officials from arresting any of the Ampatuans suspected of being involved in the Maguindnao massacre without warrant," said SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez in an interview on dzBB radio Tuesday. Marquez said some members of the powerful political clan whom he did not identify dropped by the SC building in Manila on Tuesday to file the motion. He said the petitioners claimed receiving information that policemen are about to arrest members of the clan linked to the massacre of 57 people, including 30 journalists, in Ampatuan town last November 23. The massacre received worldwide condemnation, from international media groups to the United Nations and the European Union. "Natunugan yata nila na magkakaroon nga daw ng warrantless arrests... kaya humiling sila na pigilan ang ganitong gawain ng gobyerno (They probably learned that some of them would be arrested without warrants, so they acted on it)," Marquez said.

Bahnarin Ampatuan Earlier reports said military personnel had barged into the house of Maguindanao Vice Governor Akmad Ampatuan Tuesday morning looking for Bahnarin Ampatuan, mayor of Masasapano town. One of the witnesses, Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay of the Shariff Aguak police, said in his affidavit that Bahnarin was among the armed men who stopped the ill-fated six-vehicle convoy carrying the victims in Salman village. The convoy, led by the wife and relatives of Buluan town Vice Mayor Ismael "Toto" Mangudadatu, was on its way to Shariff Aguak to file the certificate of candidacy of Toto, who is running for governor in next year’s elections. Members of the convoy, as well as several unsuspecting motorists, were later flagged down and shot by more or less 100 armed men allegedly upon orders from Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., brother of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan and son of former Maguindanao Governor Andal Sr. Zaldy Ampatuan has denied his family’s involvement in the case.
Also on Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed 25 counts of murder against Ampatuan Jr. and several John Does with the Cotabato City Regional Trial Court Branch 15. Armed Forces public information office chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said additional troops had already been deployed in Maguindanao to prevent tension from erupting during the serving of arrest warrants. "The troops will be there to assist in making sure that the filing or the serving of these documents will be served peacefully without any chance of chaos or violence in the area," said Brawner. As of this posting, no arrest warrant has been issued by the local court. - KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV