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Some 2,000 armed Ampatuan followers threaten polls—AFP general


Despite the recent crackdown on private armed groups controlled by the powerful Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao, the chief of the Armed Forces’ Eastern Mindanao Command on Tuesday said that the powerful clan still has at least around 2,000 armed supporters in the province just lying low. Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, who briefly became military governor of Maguindanao when martial law was imposed on the province in December 2009, also expressed fears that these armed groups could be utilized to disrupt if not influence the outcome of the upcoming May elections. "May pera pa sila (They still have money [and]) they can still influence [the elections]," Ferrer told reporters after attending a court hearing at Camp Crame where members and followers of the Ampatuans are on trial for rebellion. "And there are still other members of CVOs [civilian volunteer organizations] not directly fighting us. They just don't want to be disarmed and surrender their guns," he added. Making matters worse, according to Ferrer, is that other Ampatuan sympathizers have reportedly joined the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). "Some have joined the 105th Base [Command of the MILF] kasi may relatives sila diyan (because they have relatives there)," said Ferrer, referring to what the AFP calls a “renegade" MILF unit that staged attacks in central Mindanao at the height of the stalling of the ancestral domain pact in 2008. This has prompted Army units in the province to intensify ongoing operations to recover and confiscate firearms in the possession of the clan and its followers. In late 2009, after martial law was imposed, government forces conducted warantless searches and discovered several hidden cache of arms and ammunition either buried underground or hidden behind walls inside or near Ampatuan properties. The discovery of hidden firearms led the government to arrest influential Ampatuan clan members and followers, including clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., who were later slapped with rebellion cases now being heard by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 77. Andal Sr.’s son, Andal Jr., is currently being tried for multiple murder in connection with the infamous November 23 massacre. Some 196 other individuals have already been ordered charged by the Justice department but have yet to be arraigned. The AFP and the Philippine National Police are currently hunting down private armed groups throughout the country, which according to the Zeñarosa commission already number as high as 117 as of February.—Mark D. Merueñas/JV, GMANews.TV

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