Source: Al Jazeera
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/03/04/10/ampatuan-silencing-potential-witnesses-hitman
MANILA, Philippines – A man who says he took part in last November’s massacre in Maguindanao province has told Al Jazeera how he now fears he too will be killed as the alleged mastermind of the killings seeks to silence potential witnesses against him.
In an exclusive interview, the man known as “Jesse” told how he had been ordered to kill a witness, and he now fears he will be next after the head of a powerful clan placed a bounty on his life.
“[Datu Unsay] gave the order for …

Theres The Rub
by Conrado de Quiros
from Philippine Daily Inquirer
You are the chief of police of a small town, and a woman reports a problem to you. She lives in a street that is being terrorized by a thug. The thug has been known to hold up people, particularly at night, rape women, and kill anyone who crosses his path. The whole street is in deathly fear of him. It’s gotten so the woman is scared to go to work as a waitress in an all-night diner. She asks what can …

Theres The Rub
by Conrado de Quiros
from Philippine Daily Inquirer
I REMEMBER again something I read many years ago. The traffic cops in one precinct in Thailand were up in arms over their chief and wanted to take legal action against him. The reason: Their chief was not distributing the tong money they had extorted from drivers equitably or at all. He was keeping much of it to himself. That was injustice, the cops figured, and they wanted redress.
The lesson is simple: You get used to malfeasance, you no longer see it, …

by Benjamin G. Maynigo*
The most significant event in the Philippines during 2009 is what is now called the Maguindanao massacre. I believe that based on the reports and comments of respected journalists, columnists and media outlets, the murderous acts would qualify as a “crime against humanity”. Let us read what they all said:
Jose Ma. Montelibano: “the barbarism of the Maguindanao massacre is a class of its own in the history of brutality in the Philippines.”
Philippine Daily Inquirer, “Roots of the Massacre”: “THE MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE, a crime so horrific, so unspeakable …

What’s Secretary Ronnie Puno –who is overseeing the PNP — doing about this?
– Perry Diaz
Ampatuans ‘VIPs’ in jail
from Inquirer Mindanao

They have cell phones, catered meals in PNP camp

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Even in their detention cell, the Ampatuans appear to live like kings.
The suspects in the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao apparently have mobile phones, catered meals, even someone who comes daily to clean their cell in the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) compound at the Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Fermin G. Lira Jr.
Four members of …

This is a classic scenario in the Philippines where the alleged mastermind was somewhere else when the crime was committed. It is no wonder that the mastermind of a political crime is rarely convicted of the crime.
Former ARMM governor Zaldy Ampatuan’s alibi is his claim that he and Congressmen Yusop Jikiri and Munir Abison and other political leaders of Sulu “were in  Malacañang on Nov. 23 to discuss with Ms Arroyo how to resolve the electoral conflicts in the province.” 
I would really be surprised if the Ampatuans were convicted of the Maguindanao …

from The Philippine Star
MANILA, Philippines – “I’m not afraid. Do I have a reason to be afraid?” Senior State Prosecutor Rosanne Balauag asked The STAR in an interview after the first hearing on the case yesterday against members of the Ampatuan clan and other respondents on multiple murder charges in connection with the Nov. 23 massacre in Maguindanao.
Another female prosecutor, State Prosecutor Anjanette Ortile, was also assigned to the panel of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The trial at the Quezon City regional trial court will also be handled by a …

The appointment of Nariman “Ina” Abdullah Ambolodto as the new officer-in-charge governor of Maguindanao would certainly help in bringing normalcy to the once male-dominated politics of the province.  With the selection of a woman judge to preside over the trial of the Ampatuans and the appointment of two female prosecutors to try the case, it would be an interesting case to watch.  — Perry Diaz
Muslim NGOs laud appointment of first woman governor of troubled Maguindanao province
COTABATO CITY, Dec. 19 — The Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID) has lauded the …

On Target
by Ramon Tulfo
from Philippine Daily Inquirer
MALACAÑANG and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) seem unmindful of the report in this space that P400 million in cash was taken from the vault in the Ampatuan mansion in Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao.
I learned about the theft of the huge amount from sources in Camp Crame.
As a matter of courtesy, the Philippine National Police (PNP) can’t investigate the theft without a go-signal from the AFP and Malacañang, whose occupant is the AFP and PNP commander in chief.
Malacañang and the AFP probably …

I met Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes at a wake the night before she was selected to preside over the trial of the Ampatuans.  She impressed me as an intelligent  jurist.  I joked her about the possibility of her being selected and she just smiled back with an “I’m ready” look.  I was right, she was ready! — Perry Diaz
On Target
by Ramon Tulfo
from Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—Judge Luisito Cortez of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court has refused to try Andal Ampatuan Jr. for the murder of 57 people, 30 of them journalists, saying …