This is reposted from the author's blog and slightly edited for brevity. Follow Fr. Mercado @junmeromi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The death of the clan patriarch, Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr., brings mix feelings for the people of Maguindanao, including myself who has lived in the province for almost 41 years.

 

First, we extend our condolences to the Ampatuan clan for the passing of the old man. Second, we cannot but take some time to look at the man – shaped by the politics and traditions of the province. So this write up is an attempt to capture the dynamics of that politics and traditions. Third, people outside of Maguindanao, who simply remember the name for that massacre in Barangay Salman, in the town of Ampatuan in 2009, would have a better picture not only of the man but also of the cultural matrix that begot the man.

 

I had known the man since 1982 (or earlier when I had a fleeting moment with him in 1976). He was then a member of the municipal council of Maganoy but he was acting as the power behind the mayor who was ailing at that time. Even then, he had the control of the whole municipality of Maganoy (now subdivided into Sharif Aguak, Datu Unsay, Mamasapano and Datu Hofer municipalities).

 

The Ampatuan politics then were aligned to President Marcos – or perhaps the more accurate way of saying was the fact that the Ampatuan clan, like any political clan of the time, had always aligned themselves to government from the time of the American regime to the present. In short, the ruling clans would always side with the power along the Pasig River.

 

President Ferdinand Marcos and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) used the man and the loyalty of the clan to the government vs. the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and later vs. the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The rebels at that time control, more or less, the present municipality of Mamasapano – meaning from Libutan all the way to the old site of Maganoy town. Datu Andal Sr. and his government-sanctioned militias (then BSDU, CDF, ICDF, CAFGU, etc.) served as the “buffer” between the government troops and the rebels. He and his men were also the “front liners” in this battle.

 

There was no doubt about the courage and bravery of Datu Andal. I had witnessed this valor first hand, when the town of Maganoy was surrounded by the MILF rebels for a take-over and siege in 1983 and in 1984.  All the people of the town evacuated to nearby areas of Ampatuan and Datu Piang for safety, but Datu Andal and his forces remained.  I thought it would be the final showdown between the MILF forces and Datu Andal. He withdrew to his hill side fortification with all his arms and provisions. I saw the two forces as I was moving home to Datu Piang just minutes before the firefight.

 

There was no doubt that the arms and ammunition of Datu Andal were provided by then PC Command and the AFP. Datu Andal and his men defended the town and his turf.  He would NOT even entertain a thought of leaving the place else he would become like Datu Bettle (Commander Manangansakan) who after being surrounded by the MILF in Paedu Pulangi left his turf and settled in Sultan sa Barongis. Datu Bettle was NOT able to return to his turf.  So Datu Andal would do battle to the finish. When the MILF were not able to achieve its goal, they retreated to the now Mamasapano municipality then centered in Libutan and Linantangan.

 

The “victory” of Datu Andal in this contest between government (the local government of Maganoy and the Province of Maguindanao), on the one hand, and the MILF on the other, established not only the prestige of the man but also his loyalty to government beyond question. Henceforth, all government and military operations against the rebels in the upper river of Cotabato would be coordinated with the man. He had established himself as the real paramount “lord” of the upper river of the province of Maguindanao. It would be noted that the provincial capital of Maguindanao at this time was moved to Maganoy by President Marcos during the governorship of Datu Sandiale Sambulawan – beyond the Maganoy hospital about 2 or 3 kilometers away from the main highway.

 

I had three early associations with the old man:  first was friendly, the other hostile, and the third was an attempt to reconciliation. These three formed a lifetime association through thick and thin, notwithstanding the tragedy now known as the Maguindanao Massacre.

 

The first one that was friendly is linked to the education of his sons. The first time, his son went to Notre Dame of Dulawan, I served as mentor and tutor. They were not from the place, so the display of power and wealth associated to scions of Datu Andal or to the name was not there although their mother is from Dulawan.  The scions of the Piang Clan at that time, then Mayor Uy Tina, were the big timers in Dulawan.

 

I got really close to the sons of Datu Andal, being their tutor and mentor, particularly to Datu Saudi and Datu Zaldy aka Datu Puti who became ARMM governor for two terms.  Later on I would likewise be close to Datu Hofer then a very young boy.  I stood as sponsors to the weddings of his sons.  And people in the place had known that they were like sons to me notwithstanding their later “notoriety”. In many ways, I became a second “ama” – kissing my hand as sign of respect and love anywhere and anytime even when they were elected assemblyman, mayors and governor of the ARMM. Datu Andal was happy of my link to his sons and became very respectful to me, though our relations were at a distance (since I was known as anti-Martial Law and very critical of the military and their operations in the Province of Maguindanao).

 

The second was a hostile relation.  It happened in 1986 Snap Elections. I was the NAMFREL Chair of the Province. And to become chair for clean and honest elections in Maguindanao at that time, you must be a real BELIEVER and a fanatic akin to being Don Quixote!

 

Datu Andal and all the powers of the Ampatuan clan and all other ruling clans then were set for a Marcos win that would give Cory ZERO in the Province of Maguindanao! I caught this in action and stopped the man and the attempt right at the Central Pilot School – the heart of the voting center in Maganoy.  It was a confrontation. I did NOT blink and he did. This incident made me notorious and my fame to bravery spread akin to virus.

 

Then at the provincial canvassing in the provincial capitol in Maganoy, Cory’s men – Atty.  Zacarias Candao and Atty. Didagen Dilangalen – had asked me and my NAMFREL troops to serve as “buffer zone” between their men coming from Cotabato City and Datu Andal’s  “brigade”  that included Provincial Governor Sandiale with all public officials and militias, on the other hand. We (some brave NAMFREL volunteers and I) served as the buffer zone since both groups respected our presence and person.  Datu Andal respected me and our presence during the canvassing until Cory’s men withdrew. He respected me, I supposed, because I was a mentor and tutor to his sons. He was the acting mayor then!

 

The third one was conciliatory. With the victory of Cory as the new president, all the LGU mayors and governors were changed under the revolutionary government. I told him that he would be changed and had asked him that to cushion the impact on the Ampatuan Clan, his cousin, Datu Modin, who then was chief of police in Maganoy and almost apolitical, would be appointed as OIC.  He said yes to this arrangement and we became personal friends and our mutual respect increased.

 

When we speak of Datu Andal Sr., we should not separate him from the cultural matrix that was prevalent then and now to the province of Maguindanao. Datu Andal was a DATU, a WARLORD, and a LOYAL fighter for government through thick and thin. I heard him give instructions to his children: “Always side with government and the military…” I thought this was borne of the experience from the time of the Americans that you would never emerge victorious when you are at war with government and the military. This was the reason that the man was always with the side of government and the military all his life. He would always be at the side of Malacañang (for good or bad)!

 

The man was with President Marcos to the end! When he was elected mayor of Maganoy in 1987, notwithstanding the provincial governor (Zacaria Candao was his opponent), he never opposed President Cory Aquino. He was with President Fidel V. Ramos when he fielded Ambassador Pangandaman against the incumbent governor, Zacaria Candao, for the ARMM governorship.  He was with President Estrada – all the way – in government’s battle against the MILF. And he was with President Arroyo all the way!

 

There were only two instances that I witnessed when the province was under a consolidated rule of strong men. The first one was during the time of Datu Udtog Matalam (this was during the first time I came to Cotabato in 1965). The second time was during the 10-year rule of Datu Andal Ampatuan as Governor of Maguindanao from 2001 to 2009.  Both strongmen acted like the caliph or sultan of old lore.  They settled family and clan squabbles, including divorce and property settlements; they buried the dead of their constituents. Both were generous and never lacking in giving alms to the poor. They paid for the hospitalizations of their sakop, etc. But in exchange, in the usual patron-client relationship, they had to be fiercely loyal sakop.

 

Datu Andal also settled Rido (clan/family feuds). The more famous ones were the rido in Buldon (between the Aratuc and the Tomawis) and in Matanog (between the Imam and Lidasan and Macapeges). He did this trough intermarriages and political arrangement of power and wealth sharing in their respective fiefdom.

 

He expanded his clan power by marriages in the usual feudal times. He consolidated the Ampatuan clan in old Maganoy, Ampatuan and Sultan sa Barongis by marriages between and among the Ampatuan branches, that is, Ampatuan-Ampatuan.  Then he joined two powerful clans and fiefdoms – Ampatuan and Sinsuat (in real fiefdom the union of Maganoy and Dinaig) through Ampatuan-Sinsuat. Then he expanded his control and power over to the Iranun turf through Ampatuan-Biruar wedding (Parang); Ampatuan-Imam (Matanog).  He also included Talayan to the already expanded Maganoy and Dinaig through Ampatuan-Midtimbang wedding. Then we also had the Ampatuan-Santiago, etc. In no time all the clans were united in one big family of Datu Andal Ampatuan!

 

The man was generous to the poor and the sakop but the man was also ruthless to his opponents as true to any Paramount Lord! The first time I heard of this notoriety was his warning to people who opposed him: “Oppose me and die!” The first victim was a young man, a prominent and competent and flamboyant Maguindanao leader and a favorite of President Marcos. His name was Board Member Datu Surab Abutazil who wanted to contest the mayoralty in Maganoy in the first election post the ratification of the 1987 Constitution. He was shot in the coffee shop in the poblacion of Maganoy. Datu Andal was arrested and indicted. But NO ONE would stand as witness and the case was dismissed!

 

He was elected mayor (for the first time) of Maganoy in the first elections in 1987 under President Corazon Aquino. The second death was during the second local election. Again, the mayoralty was contested by Datu Paglala of Libutan in the election of 1990.  The man, too, was shot in cold blood in a busy intersection in Cotabato City. After that, NO ONE would dare contest any elections in Maganoy!

 

Officially, his reign in Maganoy began in the first elections in 1987.  But he was already a real power to reckon even before his actual election. The more prominent leaders in Maganoy then were his uncle, Provincial Board Member Abdillah Ampatuan, his cousin, BP Assemblyman Simeon Datumanong, and another cousin, Provincial Board Member Datu Surab Abutazil.  The votes of Simeon Datumanong in the 2^ndDistrict of Maguindanao and the province in his long political career were delivered by Datu Andal.  No one wins in the second district without the fiat of Datu Andal.

 

Datu Andal, Sr. and the clan were rather happy and contented with their fiefdom and by being kingmaker in his expanding influence through marriages.  He knew his limitations and he was happy for what he had accomplished in the then Municipality of Maganoy and with his son, Datu Saudi  as mayor of  the equally big municipality of Datu Piang and Datu Zaldy as member of the ARMM Legislative Assembly.

 

His ascendency to bigger politics was NO accident! It was engineered and designed by government and the AFP.  With the all-out war against the MILF as a backdrop, the ERAP Government and the AFP would like to put an end to what they perceived as MILF-influenced governorship in Maguindanao under Gov. Zacaria Candao. The government and the AFP abhorred the perceived sympathy of Gov. Candao for the MILF.  In short, the only possible opponent of Gov. Candao in the 2001 elections was Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr.  With his known bravery and anti-MILF sentiments and with his control of the 2^nddistrict except Pagalungan and his influence in Dinaig and the Iranun area, he was the only viable candidate with a chance of winning against the incumbent governor.

 

This was an anomaly since the government and the AFP always sided with the incumbent. This time, they were all against Gov. Candao, including the COMELEC in the province. The watchers of Gov. Candao could NOT even go to the precincts and watch, moreso in the canvassing that was held in the military camp in Awang.  In short, the incumbent governor lost to the upstart, Datu Andal, with the full “help” of the COMELEC, government and the AFP.  In many ways, Datu Andal was a creation of government and the military.  And he would remain faithful and loyal to them to the end!

 

With him as governor, he saw the possibility of playing politics in the bigger scale – ARMM and in the national elections with over a million command or captive votes of the ARMM.  Datu Zaldy became governor of the ARMM.  He anointed wannabes in the province if they wanted to become mayors in their own turf or fiefdom.  In short, in a period of three years as governor, he was able to consolidate his hold on the ARMM and established, too, alliances with the warlords or feudal lords of Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi.

 

The powers of the Ampatuan were at its zenith in 2009 when Datu Andal Ampatuan, Jr. led the convoy that perpetrated the tragic massacre now known as the Maguindanao Massacre with 58 victims – the women of the Mangudadatu’s and about 30 media men.  The brutalities of the massacre with the participation of the PNP and the “tolerance” of the AFP brigade in the area shocked the whole world, particularly the nation and the mass media.  Martial Law was declared in the province and a State of Emergency was also declared in all the nearby cities and provinces.

 

The massacre served as the beginning of the end of the hold of the Ampatuans over the province and the ARMM. The first arrest was Datu Andal Ampatuan, Jr. aka Datu Unsay. The close associates including PNP members who were with Datu Unsay were also indicted for the massacre. The arrest of the patriarch, Datu Andal, Sr. and ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and his brothers immediately paralyzed the power structures of the Ampatuan clan.  Only the Ampatuan women were left to fend for the vicissitudes of politics in the Province and several municipalities under the control of the Ampatuans (Sharif Aguak, Datu Unsay, Mamasapano, Datu Piang, Saidona) and in their allies Datu Odin, Talayan, Talitay, Guindulangan, Rajah Buayan and Ampatuan. In short, the arrests of the Ampatuans marked the collapse of the hold of the Ampatuan clan in the province.

 

The elections in 2010 with the victory of Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu gave the final blow to the power hold of the Ampatuan clan both in Maguindanao Province and in the ARMM. A new opposing family/clan emerged from the 2010 elections.  And in time, this clan becomes the new ruler in Maguindanao. Though Gov. Toto Mangudadatu controls the majority in the province, he does NOT enjoy the same power and control over the entire province as his predecessor.

 

There is a real need to write the history of the victory and the ignominy of the Ampatuan patriarch, not only as lesson for the present power holders and lessons about the vagary of power and shame, but also as a lesson on the actual politics and traditions at work in the place.

 

I believe in bringing justice to the perpetrators of the Maguindanao Massacre. I also believe that NOT all the Ampatuans were involved in that massacre! Most of the people indicted had no real choice in that given situation! I thought that it would have been easier simply to indict the four principals: Datu Andal Sr., Datu Andal Jr. and the Police Provincial Commander and the AFP Brigade Commander. The last two needed to be indicted, because they were there to defend and protect the victims, yet they allowed the massacre to happen. I would have indicted the four and would demand compensation for all the victims of ten million pesos each. This would have brought real justice and closure to the whole massacre. Most of the journalist-victims were poor. They were in the company because they needed the money.  Real indemnifications for these victims and bringing the principals to justice through life sentences would have better chance of closure than the present course that has no foreseeable ending. Justice and settlement of this massacre need closure soonest.