By Ben O Tesiorna
COTABATO CITY -- Details of the chainsaw massacre allegedly perpetrated by senior members of the Ampatuan clan were made public by a report of the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW). The report, entitled "They Own the People: The Ampatuans, State-Backed Militias, and Killings in Southern Philippines," was released on November 16, in time for the commemoration of the November 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre that left 57 people dead.
In its 97-page special report, the HRW divulged how more than 100 people were said to have been massacred by the Ampatuans in 2002 as retaliation for the December 24, 2002 death of Saudi Ampatuan and 17 others and the wounding of 11 other supporters in a bombing incident in Datu Piang town.
The late Saudi Ampatuan is said to be Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr.'s favorite son. "A local resident and a community leader who was close to the Ampatuan family at this time, each estimated that in response to the bombing, the Ampatuans killed more than 100 people. The local resident told Human Rights Watch, 'Any person they suspect, they kill,'" stated the report.
Witness Suwaib Upahm said in his sworn statement that he witnessed "senior Ampatuan family members and their men kill more than 20 people during the day following the bombing, on a mountain near the Shariff Aguak capitol building".
"[The Ampatuans' men] abducted [men,] women, old and young children in Datu Piang. Then, after they were all abducted, they were taken [in] a truck [and brought to Shariff Aguak].... When they arrived ... their hands were tied up and then afterwards they were chain-sawed ... We were watching because ... when they arrived in Shariff Aguak, [an Ampatuan family member] announced to the public ... that he was going to kill them all... It was [this Ampatuan] himself who killed them and chainsaw[ed] them... [Then he] said, 'Everybody leave this place now we are going to bury these people,'" Upahm said.
A community leader who was close to the Ampatuan family at this time, "Zain" (not his real name) also said that many people were killed by senior members of the Ampatuan family, who "used chainsaw, bladed weapon, samurai [sword], and backhoe". He told HRW that he witnessed the trusted men of a senior member of the Ampatuan family torture people with the chainsaw. Until 2009, the Ampatuans reportedly continued abducting and killing people they suspect to have an involvement in the 2002 Datu Piang bombing. On May 18, 2009, armed men abducted Dok Guiamalon, Abdulnur Mangkiang, and Tong Baman. "The three were abducted from Sitio Dagutem, Barangay Nabalawag in Midsayap, North Cotabato province by military and Cafgus travelling in 40th Infantry Brigade (IB) military trucks. The next day, after being tortured, Abdulnur Mangkiang and Tong Baman were returned to barangay Nabalawag. Dok Guiamalon has not been seen since," the HRW report stated.
The rumor about the senior Ampatuan's penchant for using chainsaw in killing their enemies had been going around the mill for years now.
No less than Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte admitted to having heard gruesome stories about it, but said he just dismissed them as there are no evidences to support such. Senior military officers who have been assigned in Central Mindanao in the past also admitted to hearing such tale but said that not one found any evidence to prove it.
Aside from the chainsaw massacre in relation to the 2002 Datu Piang bombing, the Ampatuans were also implicated in several other unsolved killings since the 1970s when Andal Sr. first entered politics. Several residents of Maguindanao alleged that since the late 1980s, the Ampatuans gained commercial power by using threats and unlawful force to acquire land. "Hassan," a former resident of Shariff Aguak who said he was once close with Ampatuan Sr., told HRW that "he would give the landowner two options: allow him to buy the land for 10,000 pesos (US$220) or choose the bullet." It was, however, after the Ampatuan family gained significant power when Ampatuan Sr. was elected governor of Maguindanao in 2001 that several atrocities were reported to have been committed by the Ampatuans. "They reigned terror not only in Maguindanao but in all other areas they happen to be at," the HRW report said. In Davao City, Dabawenyo Carlo Asistido was killed during a brawl with then-18-year-old Mohammad Bahnarin Ampatuan, grandson of Andal Sr., in The Venue, an entertainment spot in Davao City. The young Ampatuan was charged with murder in court but was eventually released after the victim's kin decided to withdraw the case. Rumor has it that the Ampatuans paid the Asistidos a hefty amount in exchange for their disinterest in pursuing the murder charge.
Aside from the killings, the Ampatuans were also said to have perpetrated violence against girls and women. "Several persons, including Ampatuan insiders, described cases in which senior Ampatuan family members and their militia have been responsible for the abduction and sexual assault of women and girls. An Ampatuan militia member, a police officer, and several witnesses described seeing militiamen abduct several women and girls, whom they later learned had been sexually assaulted or passed on to a senior Ampatuan family member who sexually assaulted them," the report added.
According to the HRW, insiders also alleged that senior Ampatuan family members sexually assaulted women they targeted and household staff. Speaking of senior Ampatuan family members, police officer "Nabeel" said that "if they like the lady, they will abduct [her and] take [her] to Shariff Aguak [the main Apatuan residence]."
He said that sometimes "it is just rape, other times, they are kept as wives, and other times they are killed... Those who are released are too afraid to report the crime to anyone."
The Ampatuans are also known to have paid millions of pesos to popular young actresses in exchange for a one-night-stand.
The HRW listed about 28 cases involving the Ampatuans as the group called for action from the government. The group called on President Benigno Aquino III to issue an executive order banning all paramilitary and militia forces because of their long and continuing history of serious human rights violations.
HRW also called on the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to systematically disarm all paramilitary and militia forces, end all private funding of such groups, and implement their staged reduction and disbandment.
It said an independent, accessible, and properly funded witness protection program must also be created.
Congress is also being urged to pass a law to prevent local government officials from using the selection or dismissal of police chiefs in their jurisdiction for private purposes, require that reasons be provided for the selection, and mandate local government officials to disclose any relationship or affiliation with proposed candidates.
Several members of the Ampatuan clan are facing multiple murder charges in relation to the November 23 Maguindanao massacre. Only 30 percent, however, of the almost 200 people involved in the massacre were arrested by the authorities.
The case is believed to drag for months, if not years, considering the huge money the Ampatuans are spending to allegedly buy out or liquidate the prime witnesses against them.
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