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.

Former speaker attests to Arroyo Bribes: Philippines

This is from the Inquirer.
De Venecia was a former speaker of the house and an Arroyo ally. No doubt these accusations will probably not result in any action against Arroyo. Arroyo already has the house well under her control. The accusations are symptomatic of the extent of corruption within the Arroyo administration. Arroyo is also trying to push through constitutional change so that she can remain in power longer.

De Venecia: ‘Arroyo bribes total P100M'
Money was to protect her from impeachmentBy Leila Salaverria, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:19:00 11/25/2
MANILA, Philippines—Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. Monday accused President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of spending as much as P100 million in bribes in October 2007 to buy herself “legal protection” from moves to impeach her for at least a year.
Nine months after he was booted out as Speaker of the House of Representatives, De Venecia finally delivered on his promise to expose irregularities in the Arroyo administration, testifying at the start of discussions on the substance of the fourth impeachment complaint against her in three years.
He told the House committee on justice that Ms Arroyo had a hand in the bribery-tainted $329 million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corp., in unexplained delays in the NorthRail project and in the giving of cash gifts in connection with last year’s impeachment case against her.
De Venecia’s testimony marked the first time that the charges against the President have been elaborated on in Congress. Ms Arroyo’s dominant allies killed the previous ouster moves in the House even before details could be discussed.
De Venecia told his peers that the impeachment complaint filed by his son Joey was an opportunity to use their consciences and cleanse the image of congressmen as “commodities for sale.”
“Everybody is for sale in this country, even when we go to our districts, many of the citizenry are for sale. Their votes are for sale. Where will the country go? Now is the time to start cleansing ourselves and our nation,” he said in his 40-minute testimony.
He spoke of an invitation made by the President to him and other congressmen and local government officials to a breakfast meeting in Malacañang where the cash gifts were handed out on Oct. 11, 2007.
“In that meeting, many were given P500,000 in bags of cash. I am not saying all of the congressmen. Many of the congressmen are not guilty. But many received P500,000 bags from President Arroyo and I was not there because I knew what was going to happen,” De Venecia said.
“President Arroyo paid, spent hundreds, maybe a hundred million pesos, including gifts to governors which were admitted by (Bulacan) Gov. JonJon Mendoza and (Pampanga) Gov. Ed Panlilio ... (Manila) Congressman Beny Abante and Cebu Rep. Tony Cuenco and (Deputy Speaker) Amelita Villarosa.”
Large-scale bribery
“My God! The President is spending a fortune just to buy legal protection for one year. This bribe money to congressmen and local government officials was her way of purchasing legal protection for one year because of the Supreme Court decision that an impeachment case can be only filed for one year,” De Venecia said.
He said he met the President on that day at 11 a.m. in the Malacañang music room where he was asked to transmit what he described as a “bogus and sham” three-page impeachment complaint by lawyer Roel Pulido that preempted the “more serious complaint” by San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora and Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico.
De Venecia’s bag of P500,000 cash, which was delivered to his office that same day, would be forwarded to the committee as exhibit A.
“This is large-scale bribery and corruption, as if we members of the House are commodities for sale. Please use our conscience if we want to cleanse this country, this government and this Congress,” he said.
Not a single rail track laid

Philippines: Corrupt Image Sticks

This is from the Tribune.(Manila)
Even though corrupt Arroyo is certainly a survivor! The Tribune never misses an opportunity to lambaste Arroyo and her government. If there is another state of emergency the Tribune can expect to be occupied again as it was the last time around. The article lists a few of the many scandals that have plagued the regime. Now Arroyo is busy trying to change the constitution so she can enrage the Tribune and many Filipinos for years to come! The press in the Philippines is not easily silenced.


Corrupt image sticks
EDITORIAL
10/10/2008
The world’s view on the country as being in a sorry state due to corruption and an ineffective government reverberates every single time a survey on the Philippines is done.
The uniformity of such views has become so regular that survey results on the country under the Arroyo administration have become so predictable.
The Global Competitiveness Report released the other day by the World Economic Forum (WEF) was no exception.
As expected, the country fared poorly in the annual survey, landing 71st out of 134 countries.
The only consolation, if it can be called that, was that the Philippines obtained the same ranking last year.
Under Gloria, however, maintaining a poor ranking on such surveys and not have it worsen over a year is perhaps already an achievement for her and her mediocre administration.
Those who participated in the survey, who are mostly prominent business figures in the 134 countries included, cited three major problems hobbling the country’s competitiveness. These are corruption, inefficient government bureaucracy and inadequate supply of infrastructure.
Time and again, it is these three major problems that have been cited, which can only mean that there has been no improvement or even effort at all in addressing in a concrete way, and not via propaganda on Gloria and her administration having made giant strides in curbing corruption, in their elimination of red tape and the claimed all-out move for mega infrastructure projects.
The three problems were again cited by 56.7 of those survey respondents asked to cite the most problematic factors for doing business in the country.
Common in the three problems cited was that all three involve the quality of governance under the Arroyo administration.
The WEF survey would be hard to refute and cannot be dismissed by Gloria and her cabal with stock responses such as the survey being based on outdated data or that it did not consider the supposed actions being taken to address the problem.
With the regularity of the indicting reports on the country, the Palace may have finally realized the inanity of disputing the unassailable since it has lately been admitting that a lot is needed to be done about corruption, but admitted as if Gloria and her cabal are not a major part of the problem.
The absolutely corrupt image of the country built up over the years as Gloria and her cabal shifted to high gear the plunder of government resources and the economy. And there is enough evidence on this, to name a few, the P3 billion fertilizer fund scam, the Northrail scam and the ZTE National Broadband Network project that was tainted with over a hundred million dollars in kickbacks and commissions.
While reports of corruption in the past were received by the public with incredulity, instances of government funds being ripped off by Gloria and her associates have become so common that resignation has become the usual public reaction.
The frequency of such irregularities has raised public tolerance on these crimes, making these part of Filipinos’ daily existence under Gloria.
While the whole nation stands aghast at the way corruption is eating away at the fiber of the Philippine society, courtesy of Gloria’s plunder-filled rule, most Filipinos, particularly the young, are unfortunately learning to accept it as given for those working in government.
Gloria’s patronage politics has engendered the growth of corruption in government.
Being in the good graces of Gloria assures people that corrupt ways are overlooked.
The promise of making a big killing while being on the side of Gloria has become the main draw of those wanting to join government.
The corrupt image on the country will stick until Gloria leaves government and will be remembered for decades and decades to come.
She is, after all, already branded as the “most corrupt” president the country has ever had.