Ampatuans' militia so powerful, Maguindanao cop says

Local policemen in Maguindanao are at the mercy not only of the powerful Ampatuan clan but also its supposed private army, claimed a cop charged in the massacre of 57 people in the province in November last year. Police Inspector Michael Joy Macaraeg last Friday described to members of a National Police Commission (Napolcom) investigative body how "powerful" are the Ampatuans with the local militia as their private army. The police officer said the clan's private army – considered as a civilian volunteer organization (CVO) that was originally formed to help in the government's fight against insurgents in the area – had become more powerful than the local police, hampering lawmen from maintaining peace and order. "Parang mas may authority sila sa amin [kasi] nasa poder sila ng mga Ampatuan. Kaya wala kaming magawa... Kaming mga pulis parang utusan lang ng CVO," said Macaraeg, who has turned into a witness for the prosecution of the case of 62 policemen facing administrative charges stemming from the masscre last year. He added, the local police have inferior firearms, while the CVO members had M14, M16, and M203 rifles. "Ang mga Ampatuan ang makapangyarihan doon... at ang ang CVO ginagamit ng pulitiko," said Macaraeg, bolstering a commonly held public perception that militiamen have been tapped by local politicians to gain stronghold on their respective turfs. The "Ampatuan CVO" members are believed to have carried out, along with several members of the Ampatuan clan, the worst election-related violence in the Philippines. Fifty-seven people, 32 of them mediamen, were shot dead and buried in mass graves in an isolated, hilly area in Sitio Masalay in Barangay Salman. Literally, every single member of the police force in Ampatuan town and some from the neighboring province of Shariff Aguak had all been suspended for alleged complicity in the crime, and are now facing adminstrative charges. While the Ampatuans' armed militiamen were said to be responsible for the killings, the cops allegedly were ordered by the Ampatuans to man the checkpoints to make sure no one would learn about the crime. Macaraeg belonged to the 1508th Police Provincial Mobile Group (PPMG), whose members were stationed at the checkpoints on the day of the massacre last November 23. He said while he and his men were manning the checkpoints that day, "around 100" CVO members were surrounding them. Defense lawyer Marlon Pagaduan, legal counsel for a number of the charged policemen, said his clients had every intention to enforce the law, if only the CVO members had not been a hindrance. "Kung gusto man nilang gawin ang trabaho nila [na ipagtanggol ang mga tao], hindi nila magawa dahil sa CVOs," the lawyer said. Pagaduan maintained his clients' innocence and said they would rather have them turn into state witnesses than enter a plea bargain in court. "Plea bargain means admission of guilt and we don't wan't that," he said, adding that state prosecutors have the final say on whether to have his clients testify against the Ampatuans. The prosecution is so far eyeing four police officials to become state witnesses, and is still reviewing the affidavits of the other policemen who could help strengthen the case against the accused. The prosecution is preparing to present more than 170 witnesses to prove the guilt of the Ampatuans and their supposed cohorts in the multiple murder case being heard by Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Regional trial Court Branch 221. For the defense, it is ligning up over 300 witnesses, including former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and a number of former officials under her administration. — LBG, GMANews.TV