SOLDIERS and policemen joined the group of more than 100 gunmen who shot and killed at least 57 persons in Maguindanao last Monday, witnesses told government prosecutors.

The revelation contradicted earlier reports that operatives of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) carried out the attack.

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Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said her department will file on Tuesday multiple murder and illegal possession of firearms charges against Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., who surrendered Thursday.

An Islamic holiday yesterday and a nationwide holiday on Monday forced the department to put off the filing of charges, arising from the worst case of election-related violence in the Philippines.

In related developments:

Nine members of the Ampatuan clan are considered suspects in the murders, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said yesterday.

Four days after the assault that killed his wife and two sisters, Buluan Vice Mayor Ismael Mangudadatu filed yesterday his certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governor in the May 2010 elections.

His convoy traveled with military escorts, unlike the ambushed group that had asked for soldiers to go with them but were refused.

Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential aspirant Gilbert Teodoro met him at the provincial Capitol in Shariff Aguak, ABS-CBN reported. The administration party quickly expelled three Ampatuans after the carnage, although it had been poised to field Andal Jr. for governor next year.

Misconduct

The Armed Forces relieved two ground commanders in the south for alleged misconduct in connection with last Monday’s carnage in Maguindanao. Among the complaints was their refusal to provide security to last Monday’s convoy.

AFP spokesperson Romeo Brawner Jr. said the relief of 6th Infantry Division chief Major General Alfredo Cayton and 601st Brigade chief Col. Medardo Geslani will pave the way for an investigation.

Aside from Andal Jr., the other suspects on the justice department’s surveillance list are Maguin-danao Gov. Andal Am-patuan Sr., Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, Nords Ampatuan, Maguindanao Acting Vice Gov. Akmad Ampatuan, Datu Saudi Ampatuan Mayor Saudi Ampatuan Jr., Bahnarian Ampatuan, Sajid Islam Ampatuan and Akmad Tato Ampatuan Sr.

Surveillance

“They are under investigation and under surveillance,” Devanadera said. Immigration authorities were alerted to prevent them from fleeing the country.

Mangudadatu earlier said his wife told him it was Andal Jr. who stopped their convoy in Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao last Monday. The wife also said she was slapped by Andal Jr.

Later that day, her body and the bodies of 56 other people, including 21 women and 32 journalists, were found in shallow graves in a hilly area in Ampatuan town. They were found close to an excavator that belonged to the Provincial Government.

The justice chief said most of the women were shot in the genitals and may have been raped before they were killed.

The DOJ, Devanadera said, has witness accounts that Andal Jr. was at the crime scene and not at City Hall—as he claimed— during the time of the massacre. She said the DOJ has more than 20 affidavits against the suspects.

The justice department is still studying a proposal to file terrorism charges against the suspects instead of multiple murder charges.

Crime scene

The panel of prosecutors handling the case was originally given just 36 hours to determine if probable cause existed against Andal Jr. and, if so, to file the charges.

Andal Jr. earlier signed a waiver of detention and is now detained in the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila.

When asked if she had information if Andal Jr. was among those who fired on the victims, Devanadera answered: “At the very least, we have established that he was at the scene of the crime.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) chief said the nine Ampatuans had varying degrees of participation before, during or after the carnage, based on witness accounts. She said her strongest evidence is the testimony of Mangudadatu, who spoke to his wife right before the massacre.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Jesus Verzosa ordered more criminal investigators and forensic examiners to assist in the processing and documentation of persons, firearms and other evidence in support of the continuing investigation on the Nov. 23 massacre.

Loose guns

Forensic investigators are now examining 429 firearms recovered from four deactivated civilian volunteer organizations in Maguindanao.

The joint PNP/AFP contingent in Maguindanao has so far recovered 429 firearms and some 5,100 rounds of assorted ammunition.

Several police personnel have been taken into custody by the PNP leadership, for allegedly being part of the 100 armed men that intercepted the convoy of the Mangudadatus.

The suspects also included police volunteers.

Soldiers and police remained deployed at the Capitol and the town halls of Ampatuan and Shariff Aguak, where tension rose during Andal Jr.’s surrender last Thursday.

“We are in control of the situation. We have our forces to prevent an escalation of violence,” said Col. Jonathan Ponce, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division. (Sunnex/AFP)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 28, 2009.