Arms in Andal Sr.’s house might have been planted - Ampatuan counsel

The stockpile of arms recovered by the military from the mansion of Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. in Shariff Aguak town on Thursday might have been planted by those who conducted the raid themselves, a lawyer of the Ampatuan camp claimed on Friday. Philip Pantojan said the weapons might have been placed by the military themselves at the residence of Andal Sr. because the stockpile was only recovered after the military searched the place for the fourth time. The military on Thursday recovered about five 50-caliber machine guns, 500 pieces of 50-caliber gun ammunition and other gun parts in Andal Sr.’s house in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao. “They searched the same place using the same mission order. The first time, they yielded negative results. Bakit sa pang-apat na attempt lang nakita ‘yung mga armas? (Why did they find the weapons only on the fourth attempt?)," Pantojan told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. [See: Biggest stockpile of arms found in Maguindanao] He added: “Gawa-gawa lang ba ito para masabit ang isang inosenteng tao sa isang krimen? (Is the military just making this up to implicate an innocent man in a crime?)" Pantojan said he and the other lawyers of the Ampatuans were gathering more evidence to support their claim. He said the Ampatuans might file administrative and criminal charges against elements of the Philippine Army who conducted the raids. - ANDREO C. CALONZO, GMANews.TV