On November 23, 2009, 58 people were murdered by a local warlord from Maguindanao in the worst case of election violence in Philippine history. Police have charged members of members of the powerful and wealthy Ampatuan clan for the murder of the 58, who were in a convoy to the local election office to file the candidacy papers of a challenger to the incumbent political family.

Among the victims were 32 journalists, mostly from Central Mindanao. The incident marks the largest number of journalists killed in a single incident in the world, making the Philippines the most dangerous place for journalists in 2009. A year later, hope still flickers for the families of the victims, but the path to justice has been unbearably slow. Produced by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism for the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists.

Writer/Reporter/Producer: Ed Lingao
Videographers: Rhoneil Amores and Ed Lingao

Bae Inatlawan performs a ritual sacrifice. Photo by Jaemark Tordecilla.

“This will serve as your identification,” says Bae Inatlawan as she hands over the bloody coin, “so that the spirits will allow you to enter.”

An elder of the Daraghuyan tribal community, Bae Inatlawan – also known as Adelina Tarino – had earlier banged a gong and recited a chant to call the spirits. With the help of a couple of other tribal elders, she then slit the throats of three chickens and poured their blood onto a shrub beside the sacrificial table. The visitors’ hands also got a dab of chicken blood each, as did their cell phones and cameras.

All these made up a cleansing ritual that Bae Inatlawan says is necessary for visitors to Mt. Kitanglad. “It is our way of introduction to the spirits of the earth, the spirits of the mountain, and the spirits who came before us,” she says. Members of the Bukidnon tribe, to which the Daraghuyan community belongs, believe that the spirits of their ancestors reside in the mountain. This afternoon’s offering serves to appease the spirits, so that they would grant the visitors safe passage.

The Bukidnon is one of this Northern Mindanao province’s seven tribes, which also include the Matigsalug, Tigwahanon, Umayamnon, Talaandig, Higaonon, and the Manobo. These lumad, indigenous peoples of the region, have for centuries served as Mt. Kitanglad’s gatekeepers and protectors. They decide who is welcome in the mountain, and who is not.

But the guardian role played by the tribes that live in Kitanglad goes beyond performing rituals. Lumad members make up most of the Kitanglad Guard Volunteers (KGV), a group of some 344 men who have been deputized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to patrol the mountain.

The KGVs, mostly on foot and sometimes on horseback, cover all 47,270 hectares of the Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park, reporting violations and offenses. The park encompasses not only Mt. Kitanglad, the protected area, and the buffer zones, but also Malaybalay City and seven towns.

Spirits, flora, fauna

Kitanglad Guard Volunteers patrol the forests and report violations. Photo by Jaemark Tordecilla.

The presence of the KGVs is one of the biggest reasons for the successful protection of Mt. Kitanglad, which was named an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2009, a distinction given to “protected areas with unique, diverse, and outstanding value.” It also demonstrates the unique kinship the local people seem to have with their mountain.

Indeed, this is the common thread that binds the people who are tasked to protect Mt. Kitanglad – from the indigenous tribes who believe their ancestors’ spirits live in the mountain, to the farmers who want to preserve the forest for the next generation, to park management staff who see an intact mountain environment as their legacy, to the politicians who now seem to realize that preserving Kitanglad can be their contribution not only to the rest of the country, but also to the rest of the world.

As one of the few remaining rainforests in the Philippines, Mt. Kitanglad is home to diverse flora and fauna, many of which are rare and endemic. Its most famous resident is the country’s national bird, the Philippine eagle, Pithecophaga jefferyi, one of the largest and most endangered birds in the world. The Philippine Eagle Foundation says that the bird requires 7,000 to 13,000 hectares of hunting territory to survive. The Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park has more than that, and the mountain itself has plenty of rats, snakes, and monkeys for the eagle to feast on.

Mt. Kitanglad is also home to Rafflesia schadenbergiana, the second largest flower in the world. Among the endemic species that can be found in the area are the pygmy fruit bat Alionycteris paucidentata and two native mice, Crunomys suncoides and Limonmys bryophilus.

Fewer forest violations

Yet just 20 years ago, all these seemed doomed to be lost forever. According to Mt. Kitanglad’s Protected Area Superintendent Felix Mirasol, protecting the mountain was a big problem before the volunteer guards were organized in 1997.

“A lot of trees were being cut down, a lot of wildlife was being hunted, and a lot of forests were being converted into farms,” he says. At the time, there was an average of 76 cases of forest violations in the park every year. Today, that number is down to two cases annually.

“At first, there were a lot of people who practiced kaingin (slash and burn farming), who cut down trees,” volunteer guard Adelado Bunye, a Datu of the Imbayao tribal community who has been a KGV since the start of the program, also recalls. “Today, the problems have been minimized, we only have to monitor and report. Before, we had to apprehend people and tell them to stop (their illegal practices).”

With KGVs on patrol, authorities are also able to detect violations much earlier. In the past, whole hectares of trees would be cut down before the violation is discovered. These days, cut down a few trees and you are likely to have the KGV on your case. Illegal loggers now have had a difficult time gaining a foothold in the area.

That the volunteer guard program is working – and well – can be traced to its proponents’ deep understanding and respect of tribal structures in the area. The Kitanglad Integrated NGOs (KIN), which organized the first batch of KGVs in 1997, worked closely with the lumad, and found that in each community, there were already members designated as guards, called the alimaong, whose duty was to protect the tribe.

Instead of changing the community structure, park management decided to adopt it, working with KIN to deputize the tribal guards. In addition to their duties as protectors of their community, the guards were also tasked to protect the forest and report any violators.

Initially, participation in the Kitanglad Guard Volunteers was, as its name implied, completely voluntary. Today 70 percent of the park’s annual operating budget goes to allowances, equipment, and free insurance for the KGVs – although volunteer guards are quick to point out that the allowance that they receive is a pittance. A telecommunications company that had set up a transmitter tower on the summit also donated cellular phones to each barangay for the KGV’s use. Too bad the company didn’t take it a step further by throwing in free cellphone load as well.

Kitanglad Day

Each year, park management organizes “Adlaw Ta Kitanglad (Kitanglad Day),” a three-day affair that gathers all the KGVs along with stakeholders of the protected area. At the center of the activities is the KGV congress, which includes orientation for new volunteer guards, as well as lectures by academics and experts from Bukidnon State University, the Department of Agriculture, and the DENR on how to conduct reporting and monitoring of violations. The congress also includes a medical mission for the volunteers and a discussion on how they can avail of their group insurance benefits.

But it’s not all work and no play. For entertainment, the event has a singing contest for indigenous peoples – only lumad songs are allowed in the program – an indigenous sports competition, and, perhaps inevitably, a Miss Kitanglad beauty pageant for tribe members. To close the affair, local government officials hand out awards to recognize the work of the KGV members.

Yet while the allowances and the programs are nice, what motivates the KGVs is neither money nor recognition. Says Bunye: “We love Mt. Kitanglad because it is our homeland, our birthplace, our source. It is where the spirits of our ancestors continue to live.”

The mountain, he says, has been kind to him and his people, which is why he continues to do his job despite the meager pay. “It is our hospital, where we get our medicine,” he says. “It is our market, where we get our food. That’s why we have to protect it.”

That has meant taking on duties other than patrolling the park. After park management, with KIN’s help, identified genuine leaders of the tribal communities, it organized them into the Mt. Kitanglad Council of Elders. Today a representative of the Council of Elders sits in the executive committee of Mt. Kitanglad’s Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), while 14 tribal leaders in addition to the council occupy seats in the board.

Culture-sensitive policies

Bae Inatlawan of the Daraghuyan tribal community seats in the Protected Area Management Board. Screen grab by Ed Lingao.

The involvement of the Council of Elders and the tribal leaders, according to Mirasol, allows the PAMB “to pass culture-sensitive policies, and address conflicts on boundary, resource use, and customary practices.” The council also has the freedom to bring issues involving indigenous peoples to the Board’s attention.

PAMB, for example, endorsed Bae Inatlawan and the Daraghuyan tribal community’s ancestral domain claim for 4,200 hectares inside the national park. Comments Bae Inatlawan: “We were recognized by the PAMB, so now we recognize the PAMB, too.”

Recognition from tribal leaders is essential to park management’s information and education campaigns. This is especially important when a new policy runs contrary to tribal culture and traditions. Bae Inatlawan says that initially, her people did not take kindly to restrictions on their traditional practices that park management wanted to impose. “They were asking me, ‘Why can’t we hunt wild boars anymore? Why can’t we gather wild honey?’” she says.

Being the village elder, she was listened to when she explained the new regulations to her tribe’s members, and why they should follow these. “Now,” she says, “when the wild boars are pregnant, we don’t hunt anymore.”

‘Tribal justice’

In the case of minor park violations, park management even defers to the authority of the elders. “We have empowered tribal leaders for conflict resolution,” says Mirasol, adding that in most cases, members of the tribe already sort out the punishment for violations among themselves, with what Bae Inatlawan calls “tribal justice.”

But Datu Makapukaw (Adolino Saway), chief of the Council of Elders, notes that sometimes, tribe members still end up violating forest protection rules even if they know better. “Sometimes, there is no other way (for them to get food),” he says. “Then you just have to understand (his circumstances), especially when you hear his child crying.”

Such concerns have driven Mt. Kitanglad’s park management to take a proactive role in providing sustainable livelihood for farmers who live in the protected area’s 16,000-hectare buffer zone.

Benjamin Maputi trains farmers around Mt. Kitanglad in sustainable practices. Photo by Jaemark Tordecilla.

The Mt. Kitanglad Agri-Ecological Techno-Demo Center (MKAETDC) plays a key role in these efforts. Owned jointly by the family of Benjamin Maputi and the Imbayao Multi-Purpose Cooperative, the center conducts regular seminars for farmers, teaching them about sustainable upland farming, diversified agriculture, agroforestry, goat- and sheep-raising, and abaca production.

Some 200 farmers from Malaybalay and other municipalities in Bukidnon visit the center every month.

For Maputi, who describes himself as a “tenured migrant,” running the center is as much of an advocacy as it is a source of livelihood. He says that he wants the farm to demonstrate the best practices of a farm-family approach. His use of organic fertilizers and natural pest control in the farm, he says, is also meant to spread awareness of ecological issues to farmers in the area.

But the real value of the demonstration farms in the center is showing how these sustainable practices can work for the farmer. These techniques can increase the productivity of a farm by about 50 percent, according to Maputi’s estimates, among other things.

For example, contour farming, which is practiced by the center, prevents topsoil erosion and thus preserves the richness of the soil. This in turn allows farms to maintain their productivity – and therefore takes away the need for people to move from one area to another, as well as yet another reason for making a clearing in the middle of the forest.

Diversifying crops

Planting different crops, meanwhile, would allow a farmer to earn no matter what the season. “Even if you have a small area,” says Mirasol, “if you have diverse crops, every week you’ll still have income.”

Park management conservatively estimates that about 50 to 60 percent of farmers in the buffer zone already use these improved techniques. To encourage others to follow suit, the Office of the Protected Area Supervisor keeps a list of farmers who have adopted these and gives their names to other government agencies such as the Department of Agriculture, the DENR, and the Department of Science and Technology. These farmers are then entitled to be part of different assistance programs from these agencies. The help ranges from free seedlings to technical assistance to free seminars and training for the farmers.

“Farmers are usually given quality planting materials for free,” says Mirasol. “We had a program where we gave away free coffee seedlings.” After one or two years, he estimates, farmers who received the seedlings will already be able to harvest coffee beans.

While the biggest chunk of the park’s annual budget goes to the KGV, most of the rest of the budget goes to livelihood projects for people – mostly farmers, and usually indigenous – who live in Mt. Kitanglad’s buffer zone. But with limited funding, park management has had to find creative ways to support these projects.

In 2008 and 2009, Mt. Kitanglad was allocated P10 million in the national budget, but no funds were released by the Department of Budget and Management. The park had zero allocation from the national budget in 2010.

Park management has managed to remain afloat from money from the provincial government and the seven municipalities and one city that are part of the park. Mirasol says that the towns of Lantapan, Sumilao, Libona, Baungon, Talakag, Manolo Fortich, Impasugong, and the city of Malaybalay have all integrated into their land-use plans the activities related to Mt. Kitanglad, ensuring that budgetary allocations will be made for park management operations. In 2008, the combined local contributions for the park reached some P4.55 million.

Income from tourism

Members of the Daraghuyan tribal community work closely with the Kitanglad Integrated NGOs. Screen grab by Ed Lingao.

Mirasol also says that the park management splits earnings from tourism – hikers and bird-watchers comprise most of the visitors – in the park with the different indigenous groups. It’s not much, only about P30,000 annually, but it allows people to view tourism as a possible source of income. This motivates people to protect the area, too, so that tourism may grow as an industry in Mt. Kitanglad.

The working relationship of park officials with the Kitanglad Integrated NGOs also serves Mt. Kitanglad in good stead. “NGOs want to spend directly on the people’s organizations,” observes Mirasol. “That’s why we empowered these organizations and trained them on accounting systems, so that they can handle the funding.”

He says that outside donors are more willing to fund projects for groups with successful track records. “This is why I encourage them to comply with their commitment to the support organizations,” he says.

Mirasol also tries to push Kitanglad organizations to seek out their own funding for livelihood projects. “My only condition to them,” he says, “is that whatever money they get, they should spend it in Kitanglad.”

Bukidnon Governor Alex Calingasan is candid enough to admit that the protection of Mt. Kitanglad wasn’t exactly their top priority when he and the other Bukidnon mayors organized the first council to discuss the protected area. The National Integrated Protected Areas Systems Act of 1992 had just been passed, and one of the mayors heard that there would be World Bank funds for protected areas to support the new law. The ears of the mayors perked up on the news of possible funding, and decided to convene.

“We heard there was money, and we could get funding so we can help indigenous peoples in our area,” recounts Calingasan, who was Libona mayor at the time. “We were thinking we could give them livelihood using the World Bank funds.”

In the end, however, the mayors would not get their hands on the money, as the World Bank preferred to course the funds through NGOs. Still, their efforts got the ball rolling, and through time, local government executives, national agency officials, and NGOs forged a strong working relationship. And since Mt. Kitanglad was declared a full-pledged protected area with the Mt. Kitanglad Range Protected Area Act of 2000, the mayors have become active PAMB members.

Calingasan himself continued to attend PAMB meetings as Bukidnon vice governor, which he says inspired mayors to continue their commitments to the board. Today when a new mayor is elected, the other local executives make sure to stress the importance of participation in management of the park to the first termer. The governor boasts that Bukidnon’s mayors have a near-perfect attendance in every board meeting – something that does not usually happen in management councils in other protected areas.

Key role for locals

Getting local officials to understand the importance of their roles, he says, is the key to the whole thing. “If the awareness of the mayors about the program disappears, they will no longer support it,” Calingasan explains.

As governor, he is looking for ways to increase funding from the provincial government for park management. He says that increasing funding for the park does not exactly have a tangible economic return for the government – and it doesn’t need to have one. “Local government is not a business, it is not an economic enterprise,” he says.

If Mt. Kitanglad’s PAMB has managed to be effective, though, it’s largely because of Protected Area Superintendent Mirasol, whose office manages the day-to-day activities of the board.

“Humble” is the word Calingasan uses to describe Mirasol, who has learned how to manage the egos of the different members of the PAMB, according to the governor. The Board, after all, is a diverse collection of characters: local government executives, officials from national government agencies, tribal leaders, NGOs, a media organization, and a representative for commercial stakeholders in the park.

Mirasol himself says that the relationship among the Board’s members wasn’t always chummy. Government officials and NGOs didn’t always see eye-to-eye about how to run the affairs of the park. But the disagreements, he says, took a backseat to trying to find solutions. “We agreed that we had one purpose: to preserve Mt. Kitanglad,” he says. They agreed to first discuss matters where they could find common ground, putting the thornier issues to the backburner. Slowly, PAMB members began to develop trust with one another.

These days, members of the Board enjoy good camaraderie. Mirasol also makes it a point to organize informal activities such as field trips and bird-watching sessions so that members can get to know each other better.

Stakeholders & partners

But more than that, the real key for Mirasol is that the members have a real stake in park management. He treats stakeholders as partners, which means that consulting them even on the smallest management decisions. “We are partners, which means we’re not just partners when there are problems,” he says, stressing that his communication line is always open.

This approach makes everyone in the board feel important in park management, and any good news about Mt. Kitanglad makes all of the different groups proud. “Whatever success we have,” says Mirasol, “they’re a part of it.”

It helps that his occupation as protected area superintendent is not just another job for Mirasol. A native of Bukidnon, he took the job in 2000 to be able to move back home from his DENR assignment in Cagayan de Oro City. While others discouraged him from taking the thankless job of managing Mt. Kitanglad with meager resources, he jumped at the opportunity because of the challenge to protect the mountain. “I am part of Mt. Kitanglad,” Mirasol says.

Having worked with his staff for many years, he notes that the institutional memories help them navigate through thorny issues. While they are technically competent, he doubts that they will be as successful if they were to manage another protected area. “If we pull out the staff and put them in another area, we won’t be as effective,” he says.

The bigger reason for that is that, like their boss, all 14 staff members of Mirasol’s office are natives of Bukidnon. “This is where we all studied, where we work, where we settled down,” he notes.

The whole staff feels proud when it comes to protecting Mt. Kitanglad, and looks at it as part of their legacy. “Even if we grow old,” he says, “(if we protect the mountain successfully) people will remember us.”

Governor Calingasan, for his part, believes it’s a legacy that is not limited to Bukidnon. Asked what the government will get by making the protection of Mt. Kitanglad a priority, he replies, “You will be able to help all of humanity, the whole world.” – PCIJ, December 2010

Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Governor Roan Libarios said Agra’s order to clear former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Zaldy Ampatuan and his uncle, former Maguindanao Vice Governor Akmad Ampatuan of the murder charges was  “highly irregular” and ran counter to normal court procedures.

In clearing the two Ampatuans, Libarios said Agra had effectively overruled his own prosecution panel, and overturned the initial findings of the courts that there was probable cause to charge the two. Six members of the Ampatuan clan, including patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., had been charged for the murder of 57 people in Ampatuan town last year. Among the victims were 32 members of the media who were covering the filing of the certificate of candidacy of the elder Ampatuan’s political rival.

“Dapat pinabayaan na lang ni Secretary Agra yung decision ng prosecution team at ni Judge [Jocelyn] Solis-Reyes na ipagpatuloy yung kaso,” Libarios said. Libarios and IBP general counsel Atty. Rodolfo Urbiztondo had joined other lawyers and media groups in denouncing Agra’s move in a press conference held Monday, April 19.

Libarios clarified that Agra’s resolution was not yet final and executory and that the final decision still lies with Regional Trial Court Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes.  The lady judge, lauded for her no-nonsense and brave demeanor, last month rejected moves by defense lawyers to have her inhibit herself from the case on the grounds of being biased against their client, Datu Unsay Mayor Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr.

On Monday, members of the prosecution panel led by Chief State Prosecutor Claro Arellano staged a walkout after publicly questioning Agra’s order. Agra’s decision was release on the evening of April 16, a Friday, just as the accused Ampatuans were transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig from their detention cells in Mindanao.  The team had earned the respect and support of private lawyers representing the kin of journalists killed in Maguindanao that has now resulted in an ‘open war’ at the justice department.

The panel of public prosecutors had been getting some flak from other lawyers, observers and even the media covering the bail hearings for their alleged lack of competence and skill in handling the controversial case.  While Agra has been quoted as saying he will not replace the team as punishment for openly opposing his order, it remains to be seen how the crisis will play out since the prosecutors indicated they are may not file a motion before the judge to clear Governor Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan of the murder complaint.

Attorney Harry Roque of Center Law Philippines noted that Agra had served as one of the lawyers of First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo in several libel suits filed against members of the media.

Media organizations also joined hands in condemning Agra’s order. Among those represented in Monday’s press conference were ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and BusinessWorld.

Rowena Paraan of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines joined the Philippine National Police and the Defense Press Corps in calling for the resignation of Agra.

Paraan also scored the presidential aspirants for their slow reaction to this major development in the case, noting that news of Agra’s order had been reported in the media as early as Friday. She said it was curious that hardly any presidential candidate had been discussing the issue even though it was an election season.

While Paraan acknowledged that this woud be a long court battle, she said the families of the victims should not just peg their hopes on the next president. “I don’t think we should rely on who’s going to be president to get justice for this case and for any other case of killings.”

Several aspirants had somewhat belatedly come out with statements denouncing the move of the DOJ on Monday afternoon, with LP standard-bearer Noynoy Aquino expressing ‘disappointment’, while Nacionalista Party presidential bet Manny Villar called for a ‘review’ of the case.  Villar’s Vice Presidential candidate Loren Legarda, for her part, claimed she burst into tears upon hearing this development.

Paraan added that there have been increasing reports of persons offering to pay-off journalists or families of the victims to make them back off from the court case.

Media groups denounce decision of Justice Secretary Alberto Agra to drop the murder charges against Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan in connection with the Maguindanao Massacre.

Since 2002, the state auditing agency, in various reports, has repeatedly raised adverse findings about the lack of transparency, inadequate documentation of expenses, disallowed or irregular or unliquidated disbursements, and mismatched or irreconcilable entries in bank balances and financial reports of ARMM and Maguindanao, as well as unverified or unavailable physical inventory of equipment and properties supposedly purchased with public funds there.

Again and again, COA has also pointed to huge expenses for what could have been identical or the same projects in a region that is mostly under the control of the influential and wealthy Ampatuan family.

In gist, the COA reports altogether paint a sorry picture of how one powerful clan could have dipped into public coffers, willfully and wantonly, as if these were its personal purse.

That national government agencies knew this was happening but for the longest time turned a blind eye to it is the tragedy of Maguindanao and the ARMM.

This much is clear, according to Jesuit priest Father Albert Alejo, convenor of Konsult Mindanaw: “The funding agencies know about it, because part of their money subsidizes warlordism. The IRA (internal revenue allotment) goes into lining the pockets of some of these important people.”

Poor despite billions

At the very least, it may help explain the how a single clan has managed to grow its wealth even as the area it controls became poorer.

Indeed, Maguindanao, the traditional stronghold of the Ampatuans, remains among the top five poorest provinces in the country despite the billions of pesos poured into it – and into ARMM – by the Arroyo government.

In fact, without such financial propping, Maguindanao’s population of 1.27 million would have had to make do only with annual local tax collection that was recorded at only P555,864 in 2002, and even declined to P204,292 in 2008.

The largest of the five provinces of ARMM in terms of number of voters, Maguindanao is the key to political control of the region. This is largely why it was the object of much pampering from the national government in terms of its IRA, say political analysts.

In 2002, the province’s IRA stood at P460.84 million. This peaked at P610.5 million in 2006, and slipped to PP525.5 million in 2008, excluding the allocations for its 36 towns and 506 barangays. Maguindanao, though, recorded “other receipts” of P391 million in 2007, from various other lump-sum funds in the national budget.

In 2009, Maguindanao and its towns and barangays received P3.42 billion in IRA, including P1.08 billion for the province, P1.73 billion for its 36 towns, and P616.57 million for its 506 barangays.

For 2010, Maguindanao’s total IRA even rose to P3.56 billion, including P1.03 billion for the province, P1.83 billion for its towns, and P656 million for its barangays.

Apart from the billions allotted to Maguindanao, the Arroyo government has been quaintly generous to ARMM, which in 2008 alone received P16.96 billion in total cash inflows, including P8.82 billion from the national government and P7.7 billion for its own budget.

For 2010, ARMM secured total new appropriations of P9.26 billion, including P8.18 billion for operations, and another P1 billion for locally funded projects.

But even a cursory review of the data enrolled in COA reports through the years strongly indicates that few residents of ARMM – and especially Maguindanao – ever benefited from these public monies.

Suppliers, employees

For Maguindanao in 2008, the COA said that of the P1.087-billion total cash inflows. P354.6 million went to “suppliers/creditors,” and P157.03 million to “employees.” The provincial government listed unspecified “other cash outflows” to be worth P455.56 million, or nearly half its total cash inflow for the year.

The picture repeated the cash outflow pattern of the province in 2007 – P228.38 million for “suppliers/creditors,” P162.7 million for “employees,” and P336.4 million for “other cash outflows.”

For ARMM in 2008 the regional government reported total cash inflow of P17.26 billion, but carved out of this P5.77 billion for “personal services” and P10.56 billion for “maintenance and other operating expenses.”

The big cash inflows were enrolled under specific agencies: P1.07 billion for the office of the regional governor, P4.7 billion for the Department of Education, P1.4 billion for the Department of Public Works, P550 million for the Department of Health, P329 million for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and P208 million for the Department of Agrarian Reform, and P22 million for the Department of Transportation and Communication.

On which expenditure items these amounts were used up is another story altogether.

In the observation of SocialWatch Convenor and former national treasurer Leonor Magtolis-Briones, the bulk of the funds went to paying mostly salaries, wages, honoraria, and similar expenses.

Sustaining the operations – largely payroll – of a small agency like the ARMM, she rues, amounts to “an incredible P1 billion, even though the presence of the regional government is barely felt.” Maguindanao is a bad example, Briones says, of how political control begets fiscal control, and vice versa.

In truth, in 2008, the payroll for the regular and other employees of the ARMM had climbed to P3.7 billion. (This amount excludes another P103 million that Maguindanao paid in 2008 for salaries and wages for regular, casual and contractual employees, and more for other allowances and bonuses.)

COA’s 2008 report on the ARMM lists the following amounts incurred for nearly identical “personal services” items: P3.7 billion for regular pay employees; P25 million for casual employees; P166 million for contractual employees; P103 million for “cash gift,” P267 million for “yearend bonus,” P48 million for productivity incentive, P55 million for “other personnel benefits,” P96.3 million for clothing/uniform allowance, and P202 million for “other bonuses/allowances,” among others.

Yet in addition, the ARMM government billed on public funds all sorts of other expenses, including P74.8 million for “agricultural expenses,” P42.9 million for local travel, P38.27 million for “training,” P89.29 million for “office supplies,” P23.8 million for “other supplies expenses,” P16 million for “other professional services,” P12.9 million for drugs and medicines, P25.8 million for “scholarship,” P15.5 million for electricity service, P15 million for gasoline, oil and lubricant expenses, P4.8 million for “rent expenses,” P6.5 million for landline telephone service, P1.2 million for mobile telephone service, P4.5 million for “security expenses,” P2.1 million for “general services,” P1.8 million for water service, P700,000 for janitorial services, and P507,000 for Internet service.

Multiple variants

These multiple permutations of “personal services” expenditures also dominated the budget of Maguindanao. Also in 2008, the province said it incurred the following expenses: P73 million for salaries and wages of regular employees; P10 million for casual employees; P19 million for contractul employees; P10.7 million for “other personnel benefits;” P10 million for travelling expenses; P25 million for training expenses; a huge P61.5 million for “food supplies expenses;” P53 million for gasoline, oil, lubricants; P34 million for agricultural supplies expenses; P17 million for “other supplies expenses,” and so on and so forth.

Dozens of identical expense items were both enrolled in the accounts of both the provincial government of Maguindanao and the ARMM regional government. In both cases, these were all assigned separate but similarly huge budgets.

Ironically, for all those billions, the ARMM government is in default of paying contributions to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) of its teachers in the staggering amount of P363.9 million. It has also failed to remit P5.9 million in GSIS contributions of its labor department employees, and P1.3 million of its environment department employees.

A special COA report on ARMM’s education department covering the period 2002 to 2005 noted that, “for CYs (calendar years) 2002 to 2004 alone, the DepEd failed to remit to GSIS deductions from employees’ salaries representing loan repayments amounting to P233,945,228.30 and government share of P118,344,279.60.”
However, the COA continued, “despite non-remittance, the funds intended for the purpose were no longer available as the PS bank accounts reflect minimal balances of P57,411.80 and P10,726.81 as of December 31, 2004.”

To be sure, COA has not been wanting in its reminders to the ARMM executives. In 2008, it listed a total of P171 million in various “disallowances/charges” and has repeatedly asked regional officials to settle millions of pesos in amounts “prepaid” for travel, training and other activities.

Too, COA has reminded officials in ARMM and Maguindanao about the lack of pre-bid, bid and other documents before the rollout of public works projects, for which mostly billing documents have been submitted.

In 2007, as public works and other projects started to flood the province, COA raised a big concern: because the provincial government had failed to submit its Annual Investment Plan ahead of construction work, there was no way for state auditors to ascertain the relevance or timeliness of such projects.

Total control

Notably, in the last several years, Ampatuan relatives, as well as other political surrogates, began to be found everywhere in local government units in ARMM, both in elective and appointive. As a result, the clan assumed nearly total control of public monies of all levels of the government – from regional to provincial, municipal and barangay levels.

Strategic posts in budget and revenue agencies were made accessible only to the most trusted kith or kin, not least of them Rebecca Uy Ampatuan.

The eldest child of Ampatuan Sr. and Laila Uy, Andal’s first wife. Rebecca worked as administration and finance chief of ARMM’s Regional Legislative Assembly. Previously, she was the chief of staff of then governor Zaldy Ampatuan, her younger brother.

Rebecca is the wife of Akmad ‘Tato’ Ampatuan, who was elected in 2007 as mayor of Mamasapano. In early 2009, Tato was appointed by Zaldy as OIC vice governor of Maguindanao.

Interestingly, while it is typically booked as the agency getting the lion’s share of public funds, the education department is possibly the least favored in terms of actual program priorities of the Ampatuans.

The lists of assets of the provincial and regional governments keel heavily toward grand, expensive edifices built for purposes other than education.

In Maguindanao, the local government enrolled among its assets the 2008 COA report: P1.16 million in school buildings; P20 million in office equipment; P20.8 million in motor vehicles; P106 million in construction and heavy equipment; P175 million in office buildings; P5.1 million in machineries, and P1.44 million in electrical and energy structures.

In addition, the provincial government reported that it had an array of “construction in progress” projects among its other assets, notably P110 million in “roads and highways” and P119.16 million in “other public infrastructures.”

An edifice complex seems to tie in the Ampatuans together as a clan. In ARMM, the regional government reported as many, and seemingly similar, construction projects. These included, based on the 2008 COA report: P134 million in roads and highways, P21 million in other “agency assets,” P15.7 million in lighthouses and harbors, and P1.45 million for “parks/plaza.”

Education neglected

Yet it is in the education and health sectors where the poor of Maguindanao and ARMM need a lot more propping up by local and national government agencies.

In Maguindanao, the enrollment ratio for children of school age is just 70 percent, among the lowest across the nation. In 2003 to 2004, government data showed that half or 984 out of the 1,959 public elementary schools in the ARMM were incomplete or not fully constructed.

The data on provisions made for the education sector are at best fudged, at worst, fictional. In schoolyear 2005-06, Maguindanao reported that it had enrolled a total of 135,990 students in elementary school. But a 2008 PCIJ reported showed that the schools counted only 50,204 usable seats for the students, for a dismal shortage of 85,786 seats.

Enrollment in secondary schools is even worse at only 32.8 percent as of 2006, or just a third of the children of high-school age. Too, a mere 13 percent of those who make it to high school manage to graduate.

It is not surprising then that in 2005, the Philippine Human Development Report said that only 39.7 percent of adults in Maguindanao have six years of basic education, compared to the national average of 84 percent.

For those in school, the critical shortage of books is yet another problem. Maguindanao’s schools have a total of only 30,952 textbooks for Math, 34,039 for English, 28,810 for Filipino, and 25,697 for Science.

Even worse than the lack of textbooks is the appalling lack of teachers. Maguindanao’s education department in 2008 said that the province’s elementary and high schools have a total of 1,340 permanent teachers and 52 contractual teachers.

That comes up to a most pathetic average of two — at most three — teachers for each of Maguindanao’s 506 barangays. And these are teachers whose GSIS contributions have not been paid on time by a clan whose young now go elsewhere to study.

Other, bigger ills plague the education sector in ARMM, according to COA – ghost teachers, teaching positions for sale, absentee teachers, and even ghost schools. But how the Ampatuans squandered billions of pesos in public funds, with their political patrons in Manila looking the other way, is perhaps the most ghastly scourge ever visited upon the poor of Maguindanao and ARMM. – With additional reporting by Ed Lingao and Jaileen F. Jimeno, PCIJ, March 2010

Nowadays, members of the Ampatuan clan still go around with armed bodyguards. But they seem to prefer wheels to horses, and apparently in multiples at that. According to the records of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), the Ampatuans could have as many as 121 various vehicles, including at least 53 top-of-line luxury rides that are the latest of their kind.

The Ampatuans’ fleet is sure to mock even those of the wealthiest tycoons. Among the collection are three Hummers, three Land Rovers, three Land Cruisers, two Chevrolet Suburbans, four Isuzu D-Max, two Ford F-150s, nine Toyota Hi-Luxes, two Toyota Grandias, one Camry, one Strada,   one Willy’s Jeep, one pink recreation van, 18 Isuzu trucks, three armored vehicles, and a Humvee military vehicle, among others. They also have at least four McCormick farm tractors, four Kubota tractors, and three Massey-Ferguson farm tractors.

The clan’s vehicles include 26 registered in the name of Andal Sr; five registered in the name of his first wife, Bai Laila Uy Ampatuan; two registered in the name of Zaldy; and 17 other vehicles registered in the name of Zaldy’s wife, Bai Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan. But for more than half of the vehicles, many of which were parked at the warehouse of Andal Sr.’s mansion in Maguindanao last December, the LTO has no records at all.

A three-page document that is part of a report submitted recently to the Office of the Ombudsman meanwhile lists vehicles said to belong to Andal Sr. and his son, suspended ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan “with registration papers from Land Transportation Office.”

The vehicles said to be Andal Sr.’s are:
1. Toyota Hi-Ace Grandia  LGL 233
2. Toyota Hilux LGK 539
3. Ford Super Crew GOB 111
4. Toyota Hilux LGK 419
5. Toyota Hilux LFZ134
6. Toyota Hilux LFR 169
7. Toyota Fortuner LUA 11* (in the name of Bai Laila Uy Ampatuan)
8. Honda Motorcycle 4068 LB * (in the name of Bai Laila Uy Ampatuan)
9. Honda Motorcycle 4082 LB* (in the name of Bai Laila Uy Ampatuan)
10. Toyota HiAce Grandia LGC 612* (in the name of Bai Laila Uy Ampatuan)
11. Toyota Hilux LFD 371
12. Toyota Hilux LGK 812
13. Toyota Hilux 112-00000171839
14. Fort F150 pick-up GUV111
15. Ford F-150 pickup ATT 111
16. Isuzu Elf Dropside MBY 802
17. Toyota Camry 3.5Q A/T ZJU 477
18. Toyota Land Cruiser MCY 818
19. Ford F-150 pick-up MDJ 651
20. Toyota Hilux LGK 419
21. Isuzu Tractor Head MCR 508
22. Isuzu Tractor Head MCU 997
23. Trailer CUP 924
24. Trailer 2TMP09
25. Trailer 3TMP09
26. Isuzu Tractor Head MCS 388
27. Nissan Patrol ASA 888
28. Isuzu Truck Aluminum Wing Van RCP 519
29. Chevrolet Wagon ZGM 695
30. Isuzu Forward Dropside 4TMP09

Those said to be Zaldy Ampatuan’s but of which only two are actually in his name are:

1. Ford Expedition LEF 587
2. Isuzu Alterra LFW 366* (In the name of Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
3. Toyota Innova  LFX 935*(In the name of Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
4. Toyota Land Cruiser LGG 927*(In the name of Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
5. Toyota Hilux LFN 612*(In the name of  Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
6. Toyota HiAce Grandia LFW 106*(In the name of Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
7. Mitsubishi Adventure LFR 743*(In the name of Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
8. Toyota Land Cruiser LFR 775*(In the name of  Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
9. Toyota HiAce Grandia LGC 387* (In the name of  Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
10. Toyota Hilux LFJ 609*(In the name of  Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
11. Mitsubishi Pajero DZN 168*(In the name of  Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
12. Mitsubishi Pajero1112-00000240796
13. Isuzu Dmax LGB 447*(In the name of  Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
14. Nissan Patrol LFB 662*(In the name of  Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
15. Honda Civic LEU 836 *(In the name of  Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
16. Toyota Revo LER 352*(In the name of  Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
17. Ford Chateau Wagon ZUA 777*(In the name of  Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
18. Mitsubishi Strada 112-00000167562 *(In the name of  Johaira “Bongbong” Midtimbang Ampatuan)
19. Land Cruiser JSM 168

According to the document, the Toyota Hilux with plate number LFN 612 was “recently sold to Theresa E. Lomantas as evidenced by the Deed of Sale dated December 14, 2009, executed by Bong M. Ampatuan and Theresa E. Lomantas.”

Its second and third pages list 68 other vehicles, including trucks and tractors, and “assorted farm equipment.” Of this figure, five are already included in the lists of Andal Sr. and Zaldy, while seven bear government plates (police patrol vehicles and a Humvee),

Of the remaining 56 vehicles, three are owned by the Ampatuans: Mitsubishi Strada LFZ 541 is registered in the name of  Soraida B. Ampatuan, widow of Saudi Ampatuan; a Toyota Hilux LGA 605 in the name of Andal Jr.; a Suburban Chevrolet with plated number GOV 888, which is not registered in Davao City but appears to be owned by Bai Zandria Sinsuat-Ampatuan, wife of Andal Sr.’s youngest son, Sajid;

As for the rest, a Toyota Grandia LGG 237 is registered in the name of Michael A. Sulaik; a Toyota Hilux LGM 664 in the name of Joemar Ayunan Olimpayan; and a green truck LFP  195 in the name of Kuzberi Lumenda Ampatuan.

That leaves some 50 that are unaccounted for. Eastern Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer says that based on his queries some Ampatuan vehicles are registered in the name of the family drivers.  – With additional reporting by Ed Lingao,  PCIJ, March 2010

IN THE nation’s third poorest province, Maguindanao, the poverty incidence is a staggering 62 percent – five of every six residents live on less than a dollar a day. And by all indications, every single sixth resident who is not poor could be an Ampatuan by blood or affinity.

But in the midst of all that poverty, Maguindanao and the Ampatuans have always been awash in cash, not so much because of any economic activity of note, except for agriculture and occasional kidnap-for-ransom episodes in the area.

The cash came nearly entirely from Manila, courtesy of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who has pampered the province and the clan as if they were her spoiled twins.

In her nine years in power, President Arroyo has poured billions of pesos into the province in internal revenue allotment (IRA), public works budget, and other lump-sum funds. After all, she has nurtured a deep friendship with the Ampatuans, who delivered landslide victory margins for her and her senatorial candidates in the 2004 and 2007 elections.

In fact, minutes after casting his ballot in the 2007 polls, Datu Zaldy Ampatuan, then governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), had with clairvoyant aplomb guaranteed a 12-0 victory for Arroyo’s senatorial slate.

“Actually,” he said, “Maguindanao province is an extension of the home province of Her Excellency, PGMA (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo), which is Pampanga. Here in Maguindanao, considering that we have 20 mayors unopposed, these 20 mayors are allies of the administration, even those areas with opponents – Pagalungan and Talitay – the opponents are all allies of the administration.”

Arroyo’s lieutenants

The Ampatuans were Arroyo’s anointed lieutenants in ARMM, their alliance built largely on largesse. To be fair, that was pretty much the same picture for two former ARMM governors: Zacaria Candao, who served during parts of the Aquino and Ramos administrations (1990 to 1993); and Nur Misuari, who served during the Ramos and Estrada regimes, but was more identified with the former.

The cash bonanza that Maguindanao and ARMM secured from Arroyo, however, has dismally failed to prop the province’s poor. Instead, its poverty numbers have grown on parallel track with the surge in the wealth of the Ampatuans, a clan given to flaunting its wealth, weapons, and wheels.

The irony is not lost on the likes of SocialWatch convenor and University of the Philippines professor Leonor Magtolis-Briones.

Comments the former national treasurer: “Magtatanong ka, saan napunta ang pera ng national government. Hindi mo naman nakikita sa sitwasyon ng tao, kulang ang mga duktor, kulang ang edukasyon, kulang ang tubig, hindi natatapos sa pag-aaral, tapos, nakikita mo ang mga bahay (ng Ampatuan) na malalaki. (You’d ask, where did all that money from national government go? You don’t see it in the situation of the people, they need doctors, they are poorly schooled, they don’t have water, they don’t finish school, and yet the houses of the Ampatuans are so grand.)”

Briones cites government data showing that only three in every 10 residents in Maguindanao have finished Grade 6, and only five percent – or just 63,500 of the 1.27 million total populace – have access to potable water. There are only 18 public health doctors in the province, she says, or one for every 70,555 people.

And yet, Briones says, in 2009, Maguindanao secured IRAs worth P3.42 billion, including P1.08 billion for the province, P1.73 billion for its towns, and P616.57 million for its barangays. This rose even more to P3.56 billion in 2010, including a slightly lower P1.078 billion for the province, P1.83 billion for its towns, and P656.97 million for its barangays.

The amount does not yet include the multimillion-peso earmarks or Philippine Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for local congressmen that includes Rep Simeon Datumanong, an Ampatuan ally who had served as Arroyo’s public works secretary, as well as a Cabinet member of her late father, former President Diosdado Macapagal.

Richest in votes

With 470,021 registered voters as of March 2009, Maguindanao tops the five-province ARMM as the richest in votes.

Arroyo, though, has been as generous with budget outlays for ARMM that Zaldy Ampatuan led as governor until he was suspended last December, when he was charged for rebellion. Zaldy would later also be implicated, along with 11 of his relatives, in the Maguindanao massacre of 58 people.

For 2010 alone, the total new appropriations for ARMM was P9.26 billion, including P8.18 billion for operations, P1 billion for locally-funded projects, P952.5 million for general administration and support, and P78 million for foreign-assisted projects.

But it is Maguindanao in particular that has turned into a development black hole, and the steady growth in the wealth of the Ampatuans, a deep, dark mystery.

For sure the source of wealth for those like Mindanao’s richest governors Rodolfo del Rosario (Davao del Norte) and Jose Ma. Zubiri (Bukidnon) is far easier to trace.

Del Rosario and Zubiri have vast plantations of banana and sugar, respectively, and both have shares of stocks in various businesses.

Rebecca Ampatuan-Ampatuan, eldest daughter of clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., has also said that her family has “vast landholdings,” but only parcels of these have been declared in the Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) filed by various members of the clan who have held public office.

IRA behind wealth?

Moreover, the Ampatuans’ friends and critics alike point to what they say is a likelier source of the clan’s wealth, with several of them remarking when asked about this: “Tinatanong pa ba ’yan (Is that even asked)?”

The Ampatuans, they say, simply have too much access to IRAs, the revenue shares given by the national government to local governments as part of their subsidy.

The Local Government Code of 1991 provides that 40 percent of national internal revenues shall go to local governments. Of this 40 percent, the provinces get 23 percent; cities, 23 percent; municipalities, 34 percent; and barangays, 20 percent.

Each individual province, city, town or barangay in turn receives a share according to an allocation formula based on population (50 percent weight), land area (25 percent), and an equal sharing component (25 percent).

Theoretically, of course, where these sums go and how they are used are supposed to be monitored and recorded down to the last centavo. But Bai Nariman Ambolodto, who was the acting governor of Maguindanao from December 15, 2009 to February 23, 2010, cannot – or would not – even say how much money was left in the provincial coffers when she took over last year. Other sources say only a pittance was left.

Ambolodto, who has continued to serve as Maguindanao’s acting vice governor after her temporary stint as the provincial chief executive, said queries about how much was left of the P84.4 million in IRA funds that Maguindanao gets monthly should be referred to the Commission on Audit.

The state auditing agency finished its special audit of the province by the third week of January, but has yet to release the report as of this writing.

Coincidentally, late last year, the London-based peacebuilding organization International Alert released a study that observed, among other things: “Fund transfers between the central government to the ARMM in the form of internal revenue allotments (IRA) constitute the bulk of funds placed under the control of the clans…. With government consumption expenditures in the ARMM growing at a faster rate than the rest of Mindanao combined, it was clear that whoever controlled the state would control these sums.”

More towns, villages
At the very least, since 2003, new towns and barangays had suddenly begun sprouting in Maguindanao, meaning more local government units there have been receiving IRAs. Interestingly as well, up until recently, members of the Ampatuan clan took control over most of these new local government units.

Creating new towns is apparently easier to do in ARMM compared to other areas in the country.

Under Section 442 of the Local Government Code, a municipality may be created if it has an average annual income of at least P2.5 million for two consecutive years based on the 1991 constant prices; a population of at least 25,000; and a contiguous territory of at least 50 square kilometers.

But under Section 437 of the Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act (MMA) No. 25 or the Local Government Code of the ARMM, a municipality may be created if it has an average annual income of at least P1 million for two consecutive years based on the 1993 constant prices; a population of at least 10,000; and a contiguous territory of at least 30 square kilometers.

In ARMM, the Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA) passes laws creating towns. The ARMM governor then appoints officers in charge for the new municipality who will serve until the town’s regular officials are elected.

In 2006, the RLA even created Shariff Kabunsuan province out of Maguindanao. Two years later, however, the Supreme Court declared the move unconstitutional, noting that only Congress can create provinces.

Maguindanao itself had only 21 municipalities prior to 2001, when Andal Sr. was first elected governor. By 2004, it had 25. Since 2005, or after Zaldy Ampatuan became ARMM governor, the province has added 11 more towns. According to the National Statistics Office, the province had 36 towns and 506 barangays as of last year.

Power to kin

Pending elections, Governor Zaldy Ampatuan seemed to have had no compunctions over appointing relatives as officers in charge of the newly created towns in his family’s home province.

In Maguindanao’s three newest municipalities, for instance, he appointed as acting mayors wife Bai Johaira ‘Bongbong’ Midtimbang Ampatuan, for Datu Hofer; sister-in-law Bai Zandria (wife of then Maguindanao Acting Governor Sajid Ampatuan, the youngest among his siblings) for Shariff Saydona Mustapha; and Datu Akmad B. Ampatuan for Datu Salibo.

Yet while the most powerful and influential Ampatuans are now in detention in connection with the November 23, 2009 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, no one is discounting a strong showing by the clan at the upcoming polls.

As it is, 49 Ampatuans are running for various posts in Maguindanao, including 10 of the 12 in detention.

Sitting out the May polls are former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Jr. and Zaldy, whose term of office is scheduled to lapse on Sept 30, 2011 yet. But Andal Jr.’s first wife, Reshal Santiago, is making a bid for the mayoralty of Datu Unsay, while Zaldy’s wife, Bai Johaira or Bongbong, is gunning for a regular stint as mayor of Datu Hofer.

Bongbong and Zaldy’s eldest daughter, 20-year-old Bai Noraillah Kristina, is a candidate for councilor of the same town. Mother and daughter are running unopposed.

Andal Sr., meanwhile, is vying for the post of Maguindanao vice governor. Among his three opponents is daughter Shaydee Ampatuan-Abutazil.

Two bets by choice

According to an Ampatuan relative who would rather not be named, the family’s fielding of at least two candidates among its members was done on purpose – to ensure that should something happen to the first clan candidate, another clan member would remain in the contest.

Rajah Buayan Mayor Yacob ‘Datu Jack’ Lumenda Ampatuan, who is seeking reelection against his brother Kuzbari, says the uncertainty that today hounds the clan’s political future dominated a meeting of the Ampatuan family and its allies that was held days before the deadline for filing of certificates of candidacy.

The massacre occurred last November 23, or just eight days to the December 1 deadline, prompting the clan to field two candidates to the same position, “just in case,” he says.

Datu Jack is husband of Bai Aloha Uy Ampatuan, the youngest daughter of Andal Ampatuan Sr. and Bai Laila Piang Uy Ampatuan.

Keep ‘em poor

Keeping a firm grasp on power, even as their constituents are kept poor and poorly schooled — that seems to be the quirky logic behind the Ampatuan clan, according to Eastern Mindanao Command chief, Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer.

The clan members, he says, “armed themselves because they kept saying they were fighting the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) and were fighting for government.” In the process, the Ampatuans got from Arroyo not only weapons, but also piles of public funds.

Says Ferrer: “(There’s) nothing wrong with that but the problem is, I believe, when he (Andal Sr.) became governor, he became so powerful and I think maybe he started feeling untouchable because whatever political favor he gets from national government (he could get).”

In this situation, he reckons that both the poverty and the insurgency of Maguindanao and ARMM will neither yield nor end. “Some people can sustain the MILF so that they will not disappear, so they can justify lack of governance and justify spending of IRA for security, for intelligence,” says Ferrer. “Nobody will audit you in Maguindanao, if there is MILF there.”

Political dynasties like the Ampatuans, he says, seem to think that peace is an enemy, a challenge to authority. “If you are a warlord, it’s better if you have an enemy,” says the general, “because if it’s peaceful… somebody will challenge your political leadership, people will be educated, they will start questioning or start invoking their rights… it’s better to keep them ignorant, it’s better if they’re poor because they will just depend on what you give them.” – With additional reporting by Ed Lingao, PCIJ, March 2010

(To be continued)

MAURA Montano doesn’t live in General Santos City anymore – not after the family breadwinner, Montano’s daughter Marife or ‘Neneng,’ who worked at radio station DXCP and Saksi Balita, was killed along with 57 others in Ampatuan, Maguindanao last November. Montano and Neneng’s two children have had to move to Alabel, Sarangani to live with Neneng’s brother because the sextagenarian lola has no means to pay rent and raise her orphaned grandchildren.

The mother of another media victim sought a reporter’s help for P500 to buy milk for the baby her slain daughter left behind.

The blood pressure of the widow of one of the murdered journalists shot up a few weeks ago not because she just had a caesarian delivery, but because a relative had shown her the partial hospital billing. Her BP returned to normal only when she was assured a media assistance group was going to foot the bill.

It has been four months since the massacre in Maguindanao, in which the alleged main perpetrators are members of a rich and powerful clan.

Until their detention, the principal suspects in the murder of Neneng and at least 57 others on November 23, 2009 lived in mansions in the country’s third poorest province, in neighboring cities, and even in Metro Manila.

They traveled with a retinue of heavily armed escorts in a convoy of black SUVs, flew business class, and paid the equivalent of at least two business-class tickets for the handling fees of their bodyguards’ guns flown on board (and several thousands of pesos more for their bodyguards’ tickets).

Each of their purchase, including those of multimillion-peso lots and luxury vehicles, was reportedly paid for in cold cash.

How they acquired their supposedly fabulous fortune cannot be explained in the documents submitted by the public officials among them. But an unbridled access to public monies may be one of the keys to the puzzle, as is the willingness of national government officials to tolerate even the excesses of a political ally.

Of wealth, weapons

For sure, no other political clan in Mindanao history has flaunted its wealth and array of weapons as much as the Ampatuans of Maguindanao have. Not Mindanao’s top three richest governors – Davao del Norte’s Rodolfo del Rosario, Bukidnon’ s Jose Ma. Zubiri, and Zamboanga Sibugay’s George Hofer – whose yearend net worth in 2007 were P408.94 million, P103.42 million,  and P100.63 million, respectively. Not even the late warlord Ali Dimaporo of Lanao del Sur was this brazen, although he did have fishponds in Lanao and a mansion at the exclusive Corinthian Gardens in Metro Manila.

Indeed, even with several members of the Ampatuan clan in detention for the massacre in Maguindanao, the family’s wealth remains legendary. For instance, in the first few days of their detention, the principal suspects in the massacre, as well as their aides and visitors, enjoyed catered meals.

The clan has also hired 80 lawyers, says Philip Pantojan, the Ampatuans’ Davao City-based lead attorney for Mindanao. He adds that 40 of the lawyers are in Metro Manila and headed by Philip Sigfrid Fortun, whose list of previous clients includes then President Joseph Estrada.

The lawyers are available on a 24/7 basis, says Pantojan, and are paid as soon as service has been rendered.

Securing legal expertise to this extent has been made necessary by the detention of key personalities in the Ampatuan clan: Andal Jr., Datu Unsay mayor, at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila since November 26;  Maguindanao Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr. in a private hospital and later at a military health facility in Davao City since December 5; and Andal Sr.’s other sons Datu Zaldy, governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM); Anwar, mayor of Shariff Aguak; Sajid, former Maguindanao vice governor and acting Maguindanao governor; and son-in-law Akmad ‘Tato’ Ampatuan, Mamasapano mayor later appointed Maguindanao vice governor, all of them in General Santos City, and also since early December.

Andal Jr. had reportedly led the armed men who had stopped a convoy of vehicles along the highway of Ampatuan town in Maguindanao that fateful November morning. Some 58 people, 32 of them media personnel, were then herded 3.5 kilometers up to Sitio Masalay in Barangay Salman, where they were all shot dead.

Andal Sr., Zaldy, and company were arrested for alleged rebellion and later charged as conspirators of Andal Jr. in the massacre.

Although the crime shocked almost everyone, it did not seem to surprise residents of Maguindanao itself. Yet, even today, few of them are willing to talk openly about life there under the Ampatuans.

Wealth from land?

Since the arrest of the clan’s most powerful members, though, there has been no dearth of stories about the Ampatuans’ reportedly immense riches, many of them told by people who say they witnessed the family’s spending sprees first-hand or were privy to some of the Ampatuans’ major transactions.

Official documents filed by the Ampatuans themselves confirm that several members of the clan are millionaires. The figures and assets they cite, however, fall far short of what people believe – and what some of their own relatives say – they have.

Rebecca Ampatuan-Ampatuan, wife of Tato Ampatuan and eldest child of Andal Sr. and his first wife Bai Laila Uy, has told reporters who have raised questions about the source of the family’s wealth, “We have vast landholdings – we have ricelands, coconut lands, cornfields.”

Visitors to Maguindanao, particularly to Shariff Aguak and its neighboring towns, are also often shown what residents there say are the vast landholdings of the Ampatuans.

In his 2000 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), Andal Sr. had declared farming as among his sources of income, even though by then he had served as Shariff Aguak mayor for a decade and then as its vice-mayor from 1998.

Interestingly enough, as farmer-vice mayor, he earned only P280,352.25 by the end of 2000 –  P160,744 as vice mayor and P181,608.25 from “farming.”

Still, Andal Sr. said his net worth was P6.19 million, with assets consisting of  a “residential house” in Poblacion Shariff Aguak worth P2.78 million, a “farm and residential lot” also in Shariff Aguak, worth P1.53 million, one Ford 7600 tractor acquired in 1989 for P250,000 and one Nissan Safari bought in 1994 for P1.65 million. Under liabilities, he listed a P30,000 loan from “private individual.”

Six wives, 40 children

By his 2001 SALN, Andal Sr.  no longer included “farming” among his income sources. Six years later, when he was already on his third and last term as Maguindanao governor, Andal Sr. would declare a net worth of P18.5 million, and two farmlands in Shariff Aguak and Ampatuan towns, a residential lot in Shariff Aguak, an old house and lot and new house and lot acquired in 1980 and 1994-1995 in Shariff Aguak and two F-150 pickups (with plate numbers GOB 111 and GUV 111) as his assets.

Although relatively substantial, Andal Sr.’s net worth in 2007 would not have amounted to much if that was all he had to maintain the six wives his daughter Rebecca says he has, and about 40 children (including two who have passed away).

It certainly would not have been enough even for just the Davao City mansion being built for Bai Laila, Andal Sr.’s first wife and mother of 11 of his children, among them Rebecca, Andal Jr., and Zaldy.

Located in Juna Subdivision, the structure costs some P28.2 million, according to its building permit issued on July 2, 2008. It has a floor area of 2,705 square meters, equivalent to that of 150 government low-cost housing units that average 18 square meters each.

Targeted for completion in February 2009, the mansion was still under construction on November 24, a day after the massacre. But work stopped there soon after, rendering the 200 laborers at the site jobless, says a caretaker at the palatial residence.

A check at the City Assessor’s Office in Davao City for property registered under the name Ampatuan yielded a total of 39, four of them owned by former Justice Secretary Simeon Ampatuan Datumanong. The remaining 35 are owned by members of Andal Sr.’s immediate family.

(A similar check was attempted at the Provincial Assessor’s Office in Maguindanao, but this reporter was barred from continuing with her search by provincial assessor Kanguan M. Pendi without a “court order or…the consent of the landowners.”)

Nestled in Davao

The Ampatuans apparently consider Davao City their second home. After all, it is in that city, not in neighboring Cotabato City, that their children go to school and where they set up residence for the most part of the year.

Andal Sr., has eight listed properties in Davao: four in Juna Subdivision, an enclave of the city’s old rich, among them a 4,015-square-meter lot that is likely the site of Bai Laila’s unfinished mansion; two in Matina Crossing; and two in Nova Tierra. The recorded total market value of all eight lots is P11.39 million. (According to real-estate experts, however, the market values on record are “for taxation purposes” and are a mere quarter of the actual market values.)
Andal Jr. has 16 to his name: nine in Juna Subdivision, two in Matina Crossing, three in Nova Tierra and two in Luzviminda Subdivision, with a total market value of P11.22 million.  Of the 16, 12 have land areas between 450 and 750 square meters and come up to a total of 7,488 square meters.

Junior most wealthy

Based on their SALNs, Andal Jr. is the richest among the Ampatuans, having declared a net worth of P39.3 million as of yearend 2008. His listed business interest, however, was rather modest: owner of the Shariff Aguak Petron Station in Shariff Aguak since 1999, although he also declared his wife Reshal owner of the Datu Aguak Motorcycle Center in Shariff Aguak.

Andal Jr.’s 2008 SALN also shows him to have just three properties in Davao, including two houses and one residential lot. But he listed two more houses and two other residential lots in Shariff Aguak and Cotabato City, as well as farm lots in Shariff Aguak and Datu Unsay town. According to his SALN, he had only one vehicle, a Mitsubishi Pajero purchased in Manila in 2007 for P2.6 million.

Meanwhile, the Davao City Assessor’s Office records show that Anwar has two properties here, both in Juna Subdivision, with a total market value of P1.66 million. One has an area of 680 square meters.

Sajid has three – all in Guadalupe Village – with a total land area of 900 square meters and a total market value of P1.35 million.

Rebecca herself has three as well, all in Flores Village, and with a total land area of 1,200 square meters and a market value of P830,000.

Surprisingly, in the Davao City Assessor’s list, there is no property under the name of suspended ARMM Governor Zaldy, who is theoretically second in power in the family after Andal Sr., and even though a mansion on Kalamansi St. in Juna Subdivision is widely believed to be his.

Zaldy doubles net

In his 2007 SALN, Zaldy had also included among his assets three “residential lots and houses” – one in Shariff Aguak and two in Davao City. He also had a piece of agricultural land in Shariff Aguak, he said, plus  three vehicles: a Toyota Hilux (LFN12) purchased in 2006 for P1.35 million and Toyota Hilux (LFJ 606) purchased in 2006 for the same amount and a Mitsubishi Pajero (DZN 168) purchased also in 2006 for P2.8 million.

All in all, Zaldy figured his net worth in 2007 to be P16.41 million, or more than double what he declared in 2000.

The Davao City assessor’s list, however, does have three properties in the name of Zaldy’s wife Bongbong: one in Buhangin and two in Matina Crossing with a total market value of P1.21 million.

Other researches and interviews meanwhile indicate that the Ampatuan siblings and their relatives have several other properties across Davao City. They also could have snapped up more pieces of real estate in that city had not the massacre happened.

They also could have snapped up more pieces of real estate in that city had not the massacre happened.

At the very least, some residents living near mansions believed to belong to the Ampatuans had already put up ‘For Sale’ signs in front of their homes.  The Ampatuans, the residents say, typically give you an offer so big you cannot refuse, and they pay in cold cash.

But then again, more than just the money, there was the fear that living next door to the clan is not a good idea at all. “They had guns and drivers of their convoy acted like they owned the streets,” explains one Juna homeowner, referring to the Ampatuans. “Our neighbors were already starting to sell. If the massacre did not happen, we probably would have sold our (home), too.”

“I’m afraid of guns,” says the resident, whose house is just a few blocks away from the Ampatuan mansions in Juna.  “Guns are a source of trouble. I don’t want my family caught in the crossfire.” (To be continued) – PCIJ, March 2010

This report exposes what population experts call a statistical anomaly with grave implications on the conduct and results of the May 10, 2010 elections the inexplicable sharp spike in the population growth rate of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Between 2000 and 2007, ARMM posted a 5.46 percent population growth rate, or almost triple the national average of only 2.04 percent.Except for Metro Manila, the nations center of commerce, education and government, all other regions posted slower growth rates.

Quickly, what has happened since follow:

• At least 41 murder cases have been filed against the principal accused, Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. All at once, the Judge issued a “show cause” order to both defense and prosecution panels and gave them three days to comply.

• Before the arraignment of the accused, defense lawyer Philip Sigfrid Fortun informed the judge that his client would have difficulty understanding if the charges were read in English or Filipino, and that he was more conversant in his dialect, Maguindanaon.  Fortun said his client agreed to be arraigned in English.  Ampatuan Jr. separately pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charges.

• The prosecution said it would present a total of 12 witnesses for the bail hearings. The judge asked if this could be reduced to fewer witnesses to expedite the hearings.  The prosecution relented and agreed to present just eight witnesses.

• The defense asked the court for a list of the names of the prosecution witnesses, and the nature of their testimonies and evidence.  The defense asked the court to proceed right away to a preliminary conference and pre-trial of the case.

• The prosecution lawyers objected, saying they should not be ‘constricted’ and that the defense would have every chance to cross-examine the witnesses anyway.

• The judge decided against the plea of the defense and moved to open the bail hearings.

• The prosecution panel has presented the following witnesses:

Breaking it Down

Petition for Bail

Bail is defined under Section 1 of the Rules on Criminal Procedure as “the security given for the release of a person in custody of the law, furnished by him or a bondsman, to guarantee his appearance before any court as required under the conditions hereinafter specified. Bail may be given in the form of corporate surety, property bond, cash deposit, or recognizance.”

Attorney Tranquil Salvador III, a bar reviewer and law professor, explained that bail is a commitment that an accused will appear in court, whenever he or she is required to.  “If one fails to appear in court, bail will be forfeited in favor of the government,” said Salvador, who handles classes in Remedial Law Review, Civil Procedure, Evidence and Criminal Procedure at the Ateneo de Manila University, Far Eastern University and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

Citing the Rules on Criminal Procedure, Salvador told the PCIJ that bail is a matter of right by law, if the nature of the offense is not grave, and if the penalty does not exceed 6 years.  It is also a matter of right if the penalty for the offense is not death or life imprisonment or reclusion perpetua.

However, Salvador said the right to bail becomes a matter of discretion if the penalty for the offense exceeds six years.  In such cases, it will be up to a judge to determine if bail should be granted.

According to him, the judge could consider, for instance, if there are other cases pending against the accused, and whether or not he or she is a flight risk.  Ampatuan’s case is non-bailable, hence his counsel is allowed to petition for bail under Rule 114, Sections 6 and 7 of the Rules on Criminal Procedure, Salvador elucidated.

Section 6 defines a capital offense as “an offense which, under the law existing at the time of its commission and of the application for admission to bail, may be punished with death.” Furthermore, it adds, “no person charged with a capital offense, or an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, shall be admitted to bail when evidence of guilt is strong, regardless of the state of the criminal prosecution” (Section 7).

In a petition for bail, the prosecution’s burden is to show that the evidence is strong so that the court may decide not to grant bail.  This is the reason why the prosecution wants to present witness who could bolster the case against the accused’s petition for bail.

Salvador said the defense panel, for its part, will try to show that the evidence of guilt is not strong.  If it succeeds in doing so, the accused may be allowed to post bail in an amount to be determined by the judge.

If the judge decides to grant bail to the accused, Salvador stressed, “it does not mean that the prosecution has already lost the case, there is still a trial where they can pick up the case.”

In the same vein, he cautioned, if the judge decides to reject the bail petition, it does not mean that the court has rendered a guilty verdict on the accused.

Show Cause Order

This order by the judge directed the prosecution and defense panels to separately explain their legal basis on the petition for bail filed by the accused.

Arraignment

The decision of the judge to discuss the arraignment of the accused before the start of the bail hearing, was, in Salvador’s view, “a good move.”  There is jurisprudence allowing one to petition for bail even without an arraignment, but the judge perhaps decided to have the accused arraigned in order to protect the case, he observed.

Because the arraignment is over, the court can now proceed with the trial even in the absence of the accused, he clarified.  “That’s the mandate of the law…such that even if the accused escapes, the court can proceed with the trial because he (the accused) has already been arraigned,” he added.

Salvador, who heads the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Quezon City chapter, said the Constitution provides that the arraignment should have been conducted in a language known and understandable to the accused.

Preliminary Conference, Pre-Trial

After an arraignment, pre-trial and modes of discovery follow, according to the 2004 guidelines of the Supreme Court.

According to Salvador, a few days before the pre-trial, a preliminary conference could be called to mark the documents or exhibits to be presented by the parties, to consider other matters, and to “ascertain from the parties the undisputed facts and admissions on the genuineness and due execution of documents marked as exhibits and consider such other matters as may aid in the prompt disposition of the case.”

A pre-trial is for identification of issues, marking of documents, admissions and stipulations, and the number of witnesses to be presented so that all the parties will have an idea about how the trial will proceed.

Salvador said that perhaps the defense wanted to proceed to a preliminary conference and pre-trial because with the number of witnesses scheduled to testify in the bail hearings, the defense would hardly have any hint of what a witness will say or not say, and whether these have some or no bearing at all on the November 23 incident.

During the “trial proper,” the prosecution and the defense can decide to just adopt the testimonies of the witnesses to avoid repeating those that had been offered at the bail hearings.  What is important to note, Salvador said, is that all the parties are informed,  and that no evidence is allowed to be presented and offered during the trial other than those identified and marked during the pre-trial,  except when allowed by the court for good cause shown. – PCIJ, February 2010