‘Mindanao massacre’ clan official suspended for graft

MANILA: A special court called the Sandiganbayan on Monday threw out for lack of merit and affirmed its decision ordering a 90-day suspension for a mayor whose clan is linked to the massacre of 58 people, including 32 journalists, in 2009.

The court imposed the penalty on Mayor Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan of Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao, who was facing several charges in the allegedly anomalous purchase of construction materials worth $1 million when he was the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Sajid is also out on bail for his alleged involvement in the massacre of the 58 people, including 32 journalists, in what is considered as the world’s biggest casualty incurred by media men in the practice of their profession in a single day.

The suspension of Sajid coincided with the announcement of a Metro Manila regional court that it would render its decision on the Mindanao massacre after 10 years of marathon hearings since the bloodbath was committed on Nov.23, 2009.

Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes said she would render her decision on the massacre morning of Dec.19, or a day before the non-extendible deadline imposed the the Supreme Court to do so was to expire.

Sajid was one of the three principal accused in the case along with his two older brothers, Andal Ampatuan Junior, a former mayor of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao, and Zaldy Ampatuan, the former ARMM governor, who have been detained without bail since their arrest.

Their father, Andal Senior, the former governor of Maguindanao who was tagged as the massacre’s alleged “brains,” succumbed to an ailment during the trial.

At least 106 people have been indicted for multiple murder on 58 counts each but many more, composed of members of the clan’s “private armies” remained at large despite a government offer of a cash reward of $500 each for their arrest.

In ordering Sajid’s suspension, meanwhile, the Sandiganbayan rejected his motion that he was not allowed to participate in the preliminary investigation of the criminal charges filed against him for his alleged involvement in the $1 million anomalous purchase of construction materials for school repairs while he was the ARMM governor.

The court cited records submitted by the office of the Ombudsman which showed that Sajid and his other co-accused were allowed to participate by allowing them to documents denying their alleged involvement in the criminal charges of graft, falsification of public documents.