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This Ampatuan is top of his AFP training class


A member of the Ampatuan family — the clan linked to the November 2009 massacre in Maguindanao province — graduated at the top of his class in one of the training units in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) this year. Army Lt. Col. Taharudin Ampatuan graduated from AFP Command and General Staff Course with the assurance that he will not let the celebrated Maguindanao massacre case affect his mandate to serve the people as a soldier. “As a soldier, it has always been my purpose in life to serve," Ampatuan told reporters in an interview after the commencement exercises last March 11, Friday. Ampatuan’s father, businessman-farmer Datu Hassan Ampatuan, is the cousin of Andal Ampatuan Sr., the clan patriarch who, along with his three sons (Andal Jr., Zaldy and Sajid), stands accused in the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province on Nov. 23, 2009. Andal Sr. is a former Maguindanao governor. Ampatuan, the only clan member in military service, said other members of the family should be spared from condemnation brought upon by the crime allegedly committed by some of their relatives. He said many of them excel in public service, like his cousin Rep. Simeon Datumanong, a former Justice and Public Works and Highways secretary. “Ever since, the Ampatuans are in the public service. If you Google the Ampatuan, you will see that it was actually in the archives of the US Army that has actually been one of the prime movers in the Southern Philippines," he said, referring to the anti-insurgency campaign in Mindanao. Ampatuan was the Executive Officer of the Maguindanao-based 601st Brigade at the time of the massacre. He was commissioned as an Army officer in 1991 after graduating from an Australian military school. When then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared martial law in Maguindanao following the carnage, Ampatuan helped enforce it, which led to the arrest of some suspects and the seizure of large caches of firearms and ammunition believed to be owned by the clan. “There was no justification for what has happened in the area," he said, referring to the massacre. “In fact, the whole clan would also like to have justice per se because there is no justification with what happened." Six months ago, he enrolled at the AFP-CGSC to take up Master in Public Management, major in development and security. He averaged 95.54 to top his 106-member class. After finishing the course, he is now eligible for promotion to colonel. Ampatuan said it is up to the Army leaders where to assign him next, although he said there are talks that he would be sent to the 1st Infantry Division that covers the Zamboanga provinces. The primary mission of AFP-CGSC is to educate selected AFP officers for higher command and staff responsibilities, develop AFP doctrines and promote Philippine military history as part of the continuous efforts in integrating the military as an important part of creating the history of the Philippines.- KBK, GMA News

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