Philippine forces seize ammunition in massacre probe

SHARIFF AGUAK - Philippine police and troops Friday seized stockpiles of ammunition in raids on houses of members of a powerful political clan accused of being behind a massacre in which 57 people were killed.

Backed by two armoured vehicles, armed police officers and soldiers entered at least three houses of the Ampatuan family in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao province, 930 km south of Manila.

The security forces encountered no armed resistance during the raids, but lawyers for the Ampatuans tried and failed to stop the searches.

The raided houses included the residences of the main suspect in the Nov 23 carnage, Mayor Datu Andal Ampatuan Junior, and the third wife of his father, Maguindanao Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan Senior.

Colonel Leo Ferrer, an army brigade commander, said the raids aimed to determine if “there was any evidence related to the massacre that could be found in their homes”.

The ammunition was found in two of the raided homes, some scattered in the garden of one of the houses while the rest was hidden inside. A mortar shell was also recovered.

Ferrer said police were still searching one of the houses.

The raids came after security forces dug up late Thursday a cache of weapons and ammunition in a vacant lot at the back of one of the mansions of the Ampatuans in Poblacion Tres village.

Ferrer said security forces already unearthed 22 long high-powered firearms, including an AK-47 assault rifle, 11 short firearms and 260 boxes of assorted ammunition that could have armed at least one battalion of soldiers.

“Those were buried two days after the massacre,” he said as dozens of soldiers and police officers filed into a narrow street on the way to one of the houses to be raided.

The ammunition was manufactured only in June, he added.

Investigators were still determining if any of the buried weapons were used in the massacre in Ampatuan town.

The military has already restricted the movements of the Ampatuans, with hundreds of troops surrounding two sprawling family mansions and the provincial government building in Shariff Aguak town since Monday.

State prosecutors filed Tuesday 25 counts of murder against Ampatuan Junior, who has been held at the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila since last week.

Police also filed a criminal complaint Wednesday against six other relatives of Ampatuan Junior including his father for complicity in the attack.

Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said subpoenas were issued against Ampatuan Senior and other suspects to attend a preliminary investigation hearing Dec 18 on the complaint filed by police.

The victims were on their way to file the certificate of candidacy of Buluan town Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu for Maguindanao governor, pitting him against Ampatuan Junior in next year’s elections.

They included Mangudadatu’s wife, two sisters, two human rights lawyers and 30 local journalists who were covering the event.

Mangudadatu filed his certificate of candidacy four days after the murders, while Ampatuan Junior is no longer running for office. His father is running for the post of vice governor.