Martial law declared in Maguindanao—sources

President Macapagal-Arroyo placed Maguindanao under martial law last night “for the purpose of arresting the Ampatuans,” according to highly-placed sources who cannot be named for lack of authority to talk on the matter. Ms Arroyo named Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer to take administrative control of Maguindanao province, the sources also said. Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno confirmed placing Maguindanao under martial law was discussed in a National Security meeting yesterday afternoon but said he was not aware if any action had been done to implement it “because I’m no longer there!” “But there was no decision made,” Puno said in a telephone interview Friday night. “Ask Bert Gonzales,” Puno said, referring the Inquirer to Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales on whether Maguindanao had been already placed under military rule. Presidential legal counsel Raul Gonzalez and Press Secretary Cerge Remonde also confirmed martial law was discussed during the meeting. Only last Saturday, President Arroyo ordered Puno to take over the administration of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), with authority to suspend members of the influential Ampatuan family allegedly involved in the grisly Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people, including members of the rival Mangudadatu family. Puno said his “supervisory control” over ARMM was applicable only “under normal condition.” Puno maintained he did not know Maguindanao had been placed under martial rule. “I don’t know about that, unless they have done something that I don’t know,” he said. The military yesterday expressed surprise at how powerful weapons and thousands of bullets supposed to be kept in the government armory ended up virtually in the backyard of the Ampatuan clan. Wearing bulletproof vests, soldiers and police the other day dug up antitank weapons, assault rifles and machine guns from a vacant lot a few hundred meters from one of the houses of the Ampatuan family—a known political ally of President Macapagal-Arroyo—in Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao province. Some of the firearms and the boxes of ammunition bore the markings of “Department of National Defense Arsenal,” “PNP [Philippine National Police] Camp Crame,” police said. Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, former AFP chief of staff, said he was “aghast” at the find and said he would ask for a Senate investigation next week on who was responsible for giving such a huge arms cache presumably to the Ampatuans. “Only the military can have this weapon,” he insisted in a phone interview. “Nobody can possess them, except for the military and the police, once in a while.” PNP chief Jesus Verzosa was taken aback on learning that the recovered firearms included two antitank weapons. He said only government forces were allowed to purchase and carry these kinds of weapons. “We can estimate that these types of weapons could supply a battalion of soldiers,” Verzosa told reporters in Camp Crame. Armed Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the 260 boxes of 5.56-mm ammunition that were dug up were exclusively manufactured by the government arsenal in Bataan for the AFP and the PNP and other uniformed personnel. The discovery of the weapons and ammunition cache came 10 days after gunmen allegedly linked to the Ampatuan family slaughtered 57 people, including dozens of journalists, and followed appeals from around the country and from around the world for Ms Arroyo to crack down on the Ampatuans. In a follow-up raid yesterday, security forces also searched the mansion of Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay town, who is facing 25 counts of murder over last week’s slaughter. He is now detained at the National Bureau Investigation in Manila. AFP probe The discovery of the arms cache—which officials said represented enough firepower for an entire Army battalion—has prompted the military to launch an extensive investigation into possible gunrunning among its ranks. “We were surprised at the find and more surprised to (dig up) government arsenal ammunition,” Brawner told the Inquirer. “We will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who is found to be guilty of gunrunning or selling ammunition to anyone who is unauthorized... even our retired personnel will not be spared,” Brawner told reporters. Higher-ups involved Biazon said there should be an explanation from the military. It’s possible “some higher-ups” were involved, Biazon said, adding what he wanted to know was up to “what level” they belonged to. Armed with metal detectors and using sniffer dogs, troops dug up ammunition and sophisticated weapons in excavations throughout Thursday up to late into the night, the military said. Diggings were continuing in search of guns which might have been used in the Nov. 23 massacre, according to officials. The guns and the ammunition found in Thursday’s excavations were buried meters deep in the ground about 300 to 500 meters from the house of one of the Ampatuans, military and police officials in Manila said. “This belongs to a warlord,” said Col. Leo Ferrer, area army brigade commander. He did not elaborate. The excavations also yielded military uniforms. “They are looking for guns, bullets, everything. The warrant covers everything,” regional military spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce said. Ampatuan houses raided Four simultaneous raids conducted yesterday by joint police and military units on other houses of the clan yielded live bullets, one mortar shell and boxes of empty magazines. Verzosa said police investigators were coordinating with the logistics officers of the PNP and AFP to find out why some of the firearms and boxes of ammunitions carried PNP and DND markings, suggesting they came from the arsenal of state security forces. If they did come from state arsenals, the next question is: Why were they buried deep in the ground? “We will try our best to trace the origin of these armaments and then we will try to compare it with the inventories of our different state forces,” Verzosa said. Search warrants Verzosa said search warrants were also issued for the residences of Ampatuan patriarch Andal Sr. and two homes of Mamasapano Mayor Akmad Ampatuan. He said the site where the high-powered weapons were found buried was “fresh.” “We were able to trace where they buried the high-powered firearms that were apparently used by the suspects in the massacre,” Verzosa said. “These firearms could have been used in the massacre and other crime incidents in Maguindanao in the past,” he added. Lawmen earlier said they had received tips from residents that firearms had been dumped in the vacant lot several hundred meters from the residential compound of Andal Jr. Verzosa, however, said the proximity of the site where the weapons were excavated may not be enough of an evidence to file new criminal cases. Colonel Ferrer said on GMA TV Network: “We believe these (guns) were used during the massacre.” Armored carriers Backed by armored personnel carriers, soldiers and policemen yesterday searched the houses of Andal Jr. and his brothers, Zaldy and Sajid. The house of Andal Jr. yielded boxes of empty firearm magazines. “We recovered a mortar shell outside the compound in the third house,” Ferrer said.