Former Philippine President pleads not guilty to electoral fraud

The president of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010 Gloria Macapagal Arroyo pleaded not guilty to electoral fraud in 2007 senate elections. She was escorted into the courtroom under heavy security.' Arroyo is accused of rigging the elections in favor of her candidates.

Arroyo is being held in a military hospital where she is being treated for a spinal condition. She appeared in court for only about ten minutes to enter her not guilty plea. She was then escorted back to the hospital.

The new president Benigno Aquino III has pledged that he will root out corruption and bring even high officials such as Arroyo to justice. Whether he is successful remains to be seen. Another former president notably ERAP Joseph Estrada has also been convicted of corruption but the tradition continues! Estrada was pardoned by Arroyo!

This electoral charge is just one of several cases against Arroyo. Another involves her support for the Ampatuan family who were in involved in a massacre in Mindanao in November of 2009. See the appended video. For more see this article.

Court rules Ampatuan massacre not a rebellion: Philippines

The declaration of martial law did allow the government to collect considerable evidence of Ampatuan's involvement in the massacre last November. However from this article it seems only the one member of the clan was charged with murder whereas the others were all charged with rebellion. There does not seem to have been any rebellion as the article notes just a mass murder of political opponents! Surely more of the Ampatuan clan should be charged in the murders. The Ampatuans had close connections with the Arroyo government. Perhaps the new government after the May elections will deal more harshly with the Ampatuans. This is from the Tribune.

Rebellion rap vs Ampatuans a farce—solons


By Angie M. Rosales


The dismissal of the rebellion charges against the Ampatuans merely proves that the Arroyo administration filed the case with deceptive motives, two senators said yesterday.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III said they were no longer surprised to hear of the case dismissal as the Nov. 23 incident was “pure and simple multiple murders of innocent people.”

“By filing such crimes against them, they be detained without bail. But no. The government chose to charge them with rebellion just so it can be said that the government under (President) Arroyo and her minions were doing something to penalize the Ampatuans,” Pimentel said, adding that it was a “non-case, filed with deceptive motives, and pursued with hypocritical zeal that the Arroyo government chose to do in order to mislead the people that it was upholding the law even against the warlords it was coddling in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” he added.

Aquino said the filing of rebellion charges was clearly questionable from the start, and part of the administration’s charade to justify the inexcusable declaration of martial law in Maguindanao.

“It was a sham declaration intended to protect, and not prosecute the allies of Mrs. Arroyo and to confuse the public as to the real crimes committed by the Ampatuans,” Aquino said.

“The fact that the charges were weak to begin with shows that the political alliance is still alive. Before you know it, it will be business as usual for the Mrs. Arroyo, the Ampatuans and other politicians who serve her ends.

Even if a lower court has ordered the dismissal of the rebellion charges, Pimentel said the Ampatuans should not be released yet.

Malacañang yesterday, thorugh Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar, said the court’s decision focused simply on finding no probable cause for the charges of rebellion against the accused, thereby dismissing it but such move does not necessarily translate to the declaration of Martial Law in Maguindanao province being illegal.

“The court (that issued the ruling) did not speak for the broader issue of the appropriateness of declaring Martial Law at that time, at that place -- that’s a different issue,” Olivar stressed. “I don’t see how the public policy thinking that went into the declaration of Martial Law would be affected by the specific ruling of rebellion charges filed against specific individuals.”

Olivar added he does not believe this particular development in the case would affect that of the multiple murder charges filed against the accused because the two cases are being handled by two different magistrates under separate judicial processes.

He, however, admitted that given this dismissal of the rebellion charges against the Ampatuans, it would now be difficult for the government to assure that a resolution to the Maguindanao Massacre case would be achieved under the Arroyo administration.

Olivar suggested to the relatives of the victims affected or alarmed by the recent decision to remain vigilant while keeping track of the developments in the case to make sure that justice won’t be denied to them.

Olivar expressed that, right now, they are looking forward to an appeal through a motion for reconsideration to be filed by Justice Secretary Alberto Agra to ensure that the Ampatuans would not be able to escape scot-free from a political offense that they allegedly committed.

For its part, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday hinted at filing an appeal before the court after the dropping of the rebellion charges.

AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Delfin Bangit said that while the military organization honors the decision of Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Baclig, but stressed there are other legal remedies authorities can take to pursue the case.

Ampatuan Jr. is presently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters in Manila, facing 56 counts of murder charges while Ampatuan Sr., along with another son, suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, and other members of the clan, were charged with rebellion.With Aytch S. dela Cruz and Charlie V. Manalo

International Crisis Group lay blame on Arroyo government for patronage of Ampatuan clan.

While the Arroyo government is not directly to blame for the alleged Ampatuan massacre certainly it is so indirectly. The government both supported the clan rule and also the arming of what are in effect private Ampatuan militia. The government obviously looked the other way when the clan used strong arm tactics not only against rebels but also against any people who mounted any opposition to their rule. The ICG is not that far off the mark. This is from ABS-CBN.


ICG ‘stretching logic’ in report, says Palace


By Aytch S. de la Cruz

12/23/2009

Malacañang yesterday described as a “stretch of logic” the report of the Brussels-based Inter-national Crisis Group (ICG) blaming President Arroyo’s government’s political pat-ronage of the Ampatuan clan for the massacre of 57 individuals in Maguindanao last Nov. 23.

The ICG report said Arroyo’s patronage of the clan allowed the Ampatuans to amass great wealth and unchecked powers, including the possession of a private arsenal with mortars, rocket launchers and state-of-the-art assault rifles.

Presidential spokesman Gary Olivar yesterday described claims by the ICG of the Arroyo adminis-tration engen-dering a climate of impunity as merely “stretching logic” with no evidential proof for it.

The ICG came out the other day with a policy report entitled “Philippines: After the Maguindanao Massacre” denouncing the culture of impunity in Maguindanao and called on the government to bring all the perpetrators to justice, particularly those belonging to the Ampatuan clan, whose members are suspected of masterminding the gruesome mass murder of mostly women and journalists.

The main suspect, Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. has been detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters in Manila and faces multiple charges of murder. Several other Ampatuans were arrested with the imposition of martial law.

ICG pointed out that the Ampatuans’ “exercise of absolute authority” was made possible not only by political patronage from Manila but also by laws and regulations permitting the arming and private funding of civilian auxiliaries to the army and police.

.....Lawyer Gwendolyn Pimentel, daughter of Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., said the self-confessed hit man of the Ampatuans should be made to tell all on what he knows on the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre to render justice to the victims and make the culprits pay for their heinous crimes.

Pimentel, a former solicitor in the Office of the Solicitor General and a Child Rights Advocate, said she was shocked and outraged as fellow Filipinos upon hearing the revelation of Abdul (not his real name), an alleged professional assassin in the employ of the Ampatuans who executed hundreds of persons upon orders of his masters.

In an exclusive interview with ABS-CBN Channel 2, Abdul recounted that he was only l2 when he was recruited by the Ampatuans and trained on weaponry and combat tactics to undertake the assassination of their political enemies and other individuals.

He said that he and 30 other young boys were brought to the mountains of Upi, Maguindanao where they underwent training from foreign and local experts.

Ampatuan clan linked to Philippine massacre

Not surprisingly Arroyo has turfed the Ampatuans out of her party rather than coming to their defence. The evidence against some members of the clan is too overwhelming to ignore. The charges are being filed in Cotabato City nearby but no doubt the trial will be moved to Manila ultimately for obvious security reasons. The clan has its own private militia. Not surprisingly this is an area where Muslim separatists are active. The solution to separatism it appears is clans with goon squads!

Allies of political clan linked to Philippine massacre rally

AFP – COTABATO, Philippines (AFP) – Allies of a political clan linked to the bloody massacre of at least 57 people last week rallied to their defence in the lawless southern Philippines on Sunday.

About a dozen mayors and other local officials from three provinces -- all allies of the powerful Ampatuan family -- met with regional governor Zaldy Ampatuan in his mansion while about 900 people, many of them children, rallied outside.

Zaldy Ampatuan, governor of a huge Muslim autonomous region, issued a statement vowing justice for the victims of the massacre, but also insisting on the innocence of his family.

He charged that they were being politically persecuted and that the government in Manila was preventing even more of his political allies from reaching him.

"The Ampatuan family is under siege," his statement read.

"This is an illegal persecution and our persecutors in their dire efforts to promote their sagging image are trying to ride... this incident," he said.

He did not identify his persecutors.

The governor said he had been on his way to Manila to meet President Gloria Arroyo herself when the incident happened and presented his plane ticket as proof.

The governor's brother, Andal Ampatuan Jnr, a local mayor, has been charged with the murder of 57 people, including political rivals, journalists, lawyers and eyewitnesses on Monday on the southern island of Mindanao.

The hundreds protesting outside Ampatuan's mansion chanted "Long live the Ampatuans" amid concerns that many officials linked to the clan may be suspended from their jobs while authorities probe the massacre.

"Don't remove the Ampatuans from their positions," said one placard while another protester held one saying "Ampatuans, not guilty".

Meanwhile in Manila, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said authorities had found a new witness who could link the Ampatuans to the massacre.

Devanadera said: "We have a witness who can prove that before this (massacre) happened, he was in a place where the Ampatuans were giving instructions," on how to carry it out.

The unnamed witness said he was present during the meeting of Ampatuans prior to the incident, heard orders directly from them, and even participated in the killings, the secretary added.

Devanadera said earlier that Ampatuan Jnr, who has already been detained in Manila, directly led the attack.

Devanadera also revealed the suspect's father, Andal Ampatuan Snr, the leader of the Ampatuan clan and governor of Maguindanao province, was among eight other members of the family under investigation and not allowed to leave the country.

Affidavits of alleged witnesses have linked Andal Ampatuan Snr and Zaldy Ampatuan to the killing.

Devanadera said that this means that they are now also being considered as suspects. Asked if other members of the Ampatuan family would be arrested, the secretary said "we are taking steps towards that."

Zaldy Ampatuan defended his jailed brother, saying that the law "presumes everyone to be innocent when charged with offences unless proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt."

Maguindanao is part of Mindanao island, where Muslim clans rule vast areas backed by their own private armies, often out of the national government's control.

Ampatuan Snr had been grooming his son to take over as governor of Maguindanao. The victims' relatives have alleged the Ampatuans organised the murders so that a rival candidate would not run for the post.

Ampatuan Snr has been an ally of President Arroyo for most of this decade but Arroyo has moved swiftly to cut ties with the clan.

The president's Lakas Kampi CMD coalition quickly expelled the Ampatuans from the party following the murders.

Political analysts describe the Southeast Asian nation of more than 7,000 islands as extremely corrupt with the central government forced to team up with rogue politicians to win votes.

Governor's son charged in Philippine Massacre

The slaughter seems to have been quite indiscriminate. If the article is correct that 29 journalists were killed this would be a record of sorts I am sure. One wonders why 29 journalists would be covering this event even if the election convoy was of considerable interest locally. That the perpetrators thought they could get away with this unscathed is remarkable. Even Arroyo probably cannot protect her loyalists when they engage in actions such as this.



Governor’s Son Charged With Leading Philippines Massacre

Posted By Jason Ditz

Andel Ampatuan Jr, the mayor of a town in the Maguindanao Province and son of the province’s governor, has turned himself in today and will face murder charges for his alleged role in this week’s massacre of 57 people in an election convoy.

The Ampatuan family is politically powerful in Maguindanao and Andel Ampatuan Sr. held the governorship unopposed for three consecutive terms. Andel Jr. reportedly led local police and militia members to stop the convoy carrying family members and supporters of the opposition candidate, and the group slaughtered 57 people including dozens of journalists and the opposition candidate’s wife and two sisters. Andel Jr. denies having played any role in the attack and insists he only turned himself in to prove his innocence.

The Ampatuan family has close ties with Philippines President Gloria Arroyo and was warned that if they did not turn over Andel they faced attack by the nation’s military.

Reporters Without Borders has put the number of journalists killed in the massacre at 29, making it reportedly the single deadliest attack on members of the press in the history of mank