Maguindanao Chronicles

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Scenes from the Ampatuan trial

Photos from the petition for bail hearings of the principal accused in the November 23, 2009 Massacre in Ampatuan town, Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.

Read more... | Posted Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Alarm bells for May 10 elections?

Sharp spike in Maguindanao,
ARMM population a big riddle

by Roel R. Landingin

A RECENT conference of the Philippine Population Association had none of the media frenzy that usually attends the ongoing bail hearing for ex-Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., the prime suspect in the massacre of 57 people, including 32 media workers, in Maguindanao last November 23.

Read more... | Posted Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Defense asks Judge to inhibit self

by Justine Espina-Letargo

THE petition for bail of the principal accused in the November 23, 2009 Massacre in Ampatuan town, Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. took on a new twist Wednesday, February 10. The counsel for the defense, Atty. Philip Sigfrid Fortun, today filed a motion seeking Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 221 to inhibit herself from the proceedings.

Read more... | Posted Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Demystifying the language of law

by Justine Espina-Letargo

HEARINGS on the petition for bail filed by the accused in the Maguindanao massacre began 5 January 5, 2010 before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 221.

Read more... | Posted Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

10 Ampatuans implicated
in massacre are candidates

by Carolyn O. Arguillas, MindaNews

DAVAO CITY – Only two of the 12 prominent Ampatuans implicated in the November 23, 2009 massacre in Maguindanao are not running for any posts in this year’s elections: Datu Unsay mayor Datu Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan, Jr., and ARMM governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan. Just as well, their wives and a daughter are running, records of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) show.

Read more... | Posted Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

68 Ampatuans, 15 Mangudadatus
dominate Maguindanao elections

by Carolyn O. Arguillas, MindaNews

DAVAO CITY – The Ampatuans, Mangudadatus, Midtimbangs, Sinsuats, Masturas, Sangkis comprise the majority among Maguindanao’s 879 candidates running for 374 posts: two congressional representatives to Congress, one governor, one vice-governor, 10 provincial board members, 36 mayors, 36 vice mayors and 288 municipal board members or councilors. The Ampatuans lead the list of candidates with 50 [...]

Read more... | Posted Monday, February 8th, 2010
Sidebar

Detained but still running big-time

by Carolyn O. Arguillas, MindaNews

DAVAO CITY – Their leaders may be detained outside Maguindanao but they remain a clan to reckon with in Maguindanao, if we are to base it on the number of candidates running for election or reelection on May 10. The Ampatuans, Sinsuats, Sangkis, Mangudadatus, Pendatuns, Masturas, Midtimbangs, etc.. are fielding candidates for the May 10 polls but the Ampatuans have the highest number at 68, 50 of them carrying the same surname while the remaining 18 use Ampatuan as their middle name.

Read more... | Posted Monday, February 8th, 2010
Fear, terror, poverty mix in Maguindanao

Arroyo, Ampatuans mocked agencies in crafty power play

by Ed Lingao

A FEW weeks after the Maguindanao massacre, Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, chief administrator of martial law in the area, received an unusual call on his cell phone.

On the other end of the line was a trusted aide of Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan, who was days earlier replaced as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Zaldy was one of several members of the Ampatuan clan jailed on charges of rebellion, stemming from the November 23 carnage that left at least 57 people dead.

Read more... | Posted Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Sidebar

Power is Family

At least 44 officials in the Maguindanao and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao are Ampatuans. After the massacre of 57 people, including 31 journalists, on November 23, 2009, only a few had been ousted from office. They include brothers Zaldy, Andal Jr and Sajid Islam, all sons of Ampatuan patriarch Andal Sr. The Ampatuans remain a force to reckon with in Maguindanao, their hold on political power has grown roots so deep and so extensive.

Read more... | Posted Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Why poor Maguindanao is awash with weapons of war

Ampatuans used public office
to amass mostly illegal guns

by Ed Lingao

IN JULY last year, Philippine National Police officers from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PNP-ARMM) met with representatives from the Arms Corporation of the Philippines (Armscor) for what should have been a fairly straightforward transaction.

The PNP was buying half a million rounds of 5.56-mm ammunition, the kind used by the police and military for the M-16 rifle. The purchase and delivery papers indicate that the bullets were meant for deployment to war-torn Sulu.

Read more... | Posted Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

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