Clan Chief, Son planned a massacre…
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I found this story on Canadian Press – its very sad as many people died from this massacre and still very sad to hear that we still are fighting when we all should try to get along no matter what your beliefs are! *Sigh*…. many guns were found, more like an arsenal of guns/ammunitions…
By Teresa Cerojano (CP) – 2 days ago
MANILA, Philippines — A powerful clan chief and his son plotted a massacre in the southern Philippines that killed 57 rivals and journalists, ordering local officials to hire gunmen and recruiting militiamen for the slayings, a court heard Wednesday.
Muhammad Sangki, a local town councillor, testified that the son of the Ampatuan clan’s patriarch led dozens of men in blocking the victims’ convoy as they travelled to register the gubernatorial candidacy of a clan rival then tried to identify each of them before they were shot Nov. 23.
The massacre was the worst election-related violence in Philippines history. It came in the run-up to national polls due in May, highlighting the violent sway of warlords in the Southeast Asian nation’s volatile democracy. More than 30 journalists and their staff were among those killed, the deadliest single attack on media workers in the world.
It drew international condemnation and prompted President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to declare martial law for a week in southern Maguindanao province and crack down on the powerful Ampatuan clan – once her key political ally – and its private army.
Sangki told the heavily guarded court at the national police headquarters that the main suspect, town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., planned the massacre at a Nov. 20 meeting with the province’s deputy police chief and around 40 to 50 men armed with rifles.
Sangki said Ampatuan Jr. paid and armed several police auxiliary force members to help carry out the killings of members of the rival Mangudadatu clan, while Ampatuan’s father, a former Maguindanao governor, ordered several mayors to hire gunmen who would later block the convoy of the massacre victims… Read more….
