The Department of Justice on Tuesday filed 25 counts of murder against detained Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. before a local court in Cotabato City. Ampatuan is prime suspect in the November 23 massacre in Maguindanao province, where at least 57 civilians, including 30 journalists, were grisly killed.
Radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo quoted National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) spokesman Ricardo Diaz as saying that the panel of prosecutors from the justice department filed the charges past 11 a.m. Senior state prosecutor Leo Dacera II said they brought with them two boxes of sworn affidavits from witnesses they have interviewed so far. Diaz said they have yet to be informed on who will handle the case, the same radio report said. But citing security concerns, the prosecutors said they would also be asking the court to transfer the trial to Metro Manila.
The southern Philippine province of Maguindanao is known to be home to powerful clans, one of which is the feared Ampatuan clan, a known rival of the Mangudadatus and a dominant player in local politics in the region. Apart from Andal Jr., other members of the clan holding office include Maguindanao acting Gov. Sajid Ampatuan, Mamasapano Mayor Bahnarin Ampatuan, and Salibo Vice Mayor Datu Kanor Ampatuan.
The Datu Unsay mayor was reported to have led the armed men that seized the members of a convoy that was bound for Shariff Aguak for the filing of candidacy of gubernatorial aspirant Ismael Mangudadatu, the incumbent vice mayor of Buluan town.
At least 57 members of the convoy, including Mangudadatu's wife and relatives, lawyers, supporters, journalists out to cover the filing of COC, and even unsuspecting motorists were brutally killed, most of them buried about two kilometers off a remote road in Ampatuan town.
At present, Andal Jr. is detained at the NBI head office in Manila.
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