Only 32 Ampatuan guns came from AFP – Ibrado

Only about 32 of the 1,100 firearms seized from the powerful Ampatuan clan are from the military, Armed Forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado said on Wednesday, citing initial results of an investigation. In an ambush interview in Camp Aguinaldo, Ibrado also said about nine percent of the more than one million rounds of assorted ammunition seized from the controversial political family came from the government arsenal. “Initially identified to be found in the inventory of the Armed Forces is something like 32 firearms," said Ibrado, adding that the firearms included a general purpose machine gun that was reported lost in a failed coup attempt. “On the ammunition, we recovered more than one million rounds, roughly about nine percent of the total number came from the government arsenal and about 70 percent came from Armscor (Arms Corp.) and then the others are loose rounds which we cannot determine the origin," he added. The firearms and ammunition were seized in various locations in Maguindanao – some of them from properties owned by the Ampatuans – after Malacañang placed the province under martial rule for eight days last month. The declaration was in connection with the massacre, considered as the worst political violence in the country since among the victims were female members of the Ampatuans’ rival clan, the Mangudadatus. Ibrado said the information came from the report submitted by the military board that investigated the alleged pilferage of military weapons to the Ampatuans, who are blamed for the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province. Five military personnel are involved in the alleged pilferage, but Ibrado refused to identify them pending the final results of the investigation. Ibrado said he had to return the report to the investigating body for being incomplete, saying it did not include, among others, the side of a militiaman – a member of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu) - whose issued firearm was found in the possession of the Ampatuans. “It did not say where the Cafgu is, if they talked to the Cafgu already, why was his firearm recovered there. Was he really the last person who was issued that firearm so those are the details that were not completed," he said He said he is hoping to submit an initial report of the investigation to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo next week. - KBK, GMANews.TV