4 more Ampatuans tagged in Maguindanao killing

Law enforcers on Tuesday implicated four more Ampatuan clansmen in the mass killing of 57 people in Maguindanao on November 23, a police official said Tuesday.

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Senior Superintendent Erickson Velasquez said there are now five members of the powerful Maguindanao-based clan in their official list of suspects, including Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., the prime suspect in the carnage.

"They have been properly identified as a direct actor. Andon sila mismo (They were there) during the abduction," Velasquez said.

The new development was based on the accounts of the witnesses, Velasquez said. He, however, refused to reveal the suspects’ identities.

GMA News’ Marisol Abdurahman said that aside from the Ampatuans, a civilian volunteer and several other government officials are likely to be implicated in the grisly massacre after two policemen mentioned them in their affidavits. [See: 2 cops implicate Andal Jr. in Maguindanao massacre]




Among those mentioned in the affidavits were:

Datu Ulo Ampatuan, grandson of Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.;
Mayor Bahnarin Ampatuan of Mamasapano town, Maguindanao;
Vice mayor Datu Kanor Ampatuan of Salibo town, Maguindanao;
Muhamad Sangki, reportedly an official of Datu Abdullah Sangki town, Maguindanao; and
Tammy Masukat, commander of a local Civilian Volunteer Organization in the area.

The report said the government expects to list as much as 100 suspects involved in the bloodbath that claimed the lives of 57 people, including the wife and relatives of Buluan town vice mayor Ismael “Toto" Mangudadatu, some 30 journalists, and two women lawyers.

The victims were on their way to Shariff Aguak to register Mangudadatu as gubernatorial candidate in the province when they were abducted and killed.

According to report, the government has about 50 witnesses under the its custody but it was not enough as none of them was able to witness the actual killing.

Earlier, at least 25 counts of murder charges have been filed against Ampatuan Jr. at the Cotabato city regional trial court, based on witnesses’ testimonies that he was among the armed men that flagged down the convoy of the victims.

The Bureau of Immigration, for its part, placed nine members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, including the detained mayor, on their watchlist.

These include the Maguindanao Governor, Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, Nords Ampatuan, Akmad Ampatuan, Saudi Ampatuan Jr., Bahnarian Ampatuan (“Bahnarin Ampatuan" in some reports), Sajid Islam Ampatuan, and Akmad “Tato" Ampatuan.

They were barred from leaving the country in order not to frustrate the government's investigation.

The Ampatuans, for their part, repeatedly denied involvement in the crime. – Aie Balagtas See/JV, GMANews.TV