The junking of the multiple murder charges against two members of the powerful Ampatuan clan could be connected with the May 10 elections, the Liberal Party (LP) said on Sunday. LP campaign manager Florencio “Butch" Abad said the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to clear Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan from involvement in the Maguindanao massacre could mean that the “Ampatuan cheating machine" would be put to work again on election day. “With 23 days left before the May presidential elections, the timing of the dismissal of the case and order of the release of the two … can only fuel further suspicion that the Arroyo regime will once again employ the dreaded but effective Ampatuan cheating machine to manipulate the coming elections according to Arroyo’s whims," Abad said in a statement. The LP is fielding Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III in the upcoming elections. The Ampatuans had been closed allies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before they were implicated in the massacre of 57 people, including 32 journalists, last November 23. On Friday, DOJ secretary Alberto Agra ordered the dropping of charges and subsequent release of Zaldy and Akmad due to lack of strong evidence linking them to the carnage. Zaldy was suspended as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) while Akmad as vice governor of Maguindanao as a result of their alleged involvement in the massacre. In the 2004 elections, President Arroyo enjoyed a comfortable lead over her opponents in the region allegedly due to the Ampatuans’ influence over the electorate there. Abad was a former Cabinet official in the Arroyo government. In 2005, he along with 10 other government officials resigned from their posts amid accusations that President Arroyo manipulated the results of the 2004 elections to favor her and her allies.
The ties that bind Abad said Agra’s “ill-advised" decision only showed that President Arroyo had not cut her ties with the Ampatuans contrary to what Malacañang claimed. “The undue haste and the questionable ground upon which DOJ Secretary Alberto Agra based his decision to dismiss the charges of conspiracy to commit multiple murder charges against two members of the Ampatuan clan once again demonstrate the special treatment that the clan continues – and never lost – under the Arroyo regime," he said. Other members of the Ampatuan clan – including its patriarch, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his namesake, Datu Unsay mayor Andal Jr. – remain incarcerated in connection with the massacre.
Not yet off the hook Agra, for his part, stood by his decision, saying politics did not play a part in it. “I based my decision on records before me, and not because of [politics]," he said as he acknowledged the strong political ties between President Arroyo and the Ampatuans. Agra also said that despite his order, Zaldy could not be considered off the hook yet, adding that the DOJ will still pursue the rebellion case filed against Zaldy and several other Ampatuan family members. “We already filed a motion for reconsideration before the court, and we are standing by our findings that there was rebellion in the province and Governor Zaldy was involved," Agra said. Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Vivencio Baclig last month dismissed the rebellion case against the Ampatuans due to lack of evidence showing that the respondents and their supporters had plotted an uprising to prevent government authorities from arresting them in connection with the massacre.
“Campaign politics" Malacañang, for its part, said President Arroyo had nothing to do with the latest development in the massacre case. Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar likewise appealed to the administration’s critics and the political opposition to stop using the issue in their campaign for the May 10 elections. “Campaign politics, no less than the sensitivities of the victims’ bereaved families, should not be raked up in this tragic affair," he said. Olivar said everyone wants justice for the victims, including the President. He added that the international community was monitoring developments in the case and it is unthinkable for President Arroyo to intervene in such a “sensitive" issue. "I don’t see any reason why we should lose hope that the massacre victims will get justice. The whole world is watching. Rest assured that justice will be served at the soonest possible time," he said in Filipino.
– KBK, GMANews.TV 
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