4 MORE AMPATUANS DETAINED IN RIZAL, PHILIPPINES

Manila, Philippines - Four top members of a powerful Ampatuans family, accused of the massacre of 57 people in the southern Philippines last year, were flown to Manila where they were locked up in a police detention centre in suburban Taguig, Rizal.

Former governor Andal Ampatuan Senior of Maguindanao, the family's patriarch, his two sons, Anwar Ampatuan and former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan; and a son-in-law, Akmad "Tato" Ampatuan, used handkerchiefs to cover their handcuffs when they arrived at Camp Bagong Diwa, a five-storey detention cell located beside the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters.

• Pasay City's airport was heavily secured when they arrived. A convoy of darkly tinted SUVs, with police and military escorts, brought them to the detention facility in suburban Taguig, 60 kilometres south of Manila.
• Ampatuan Senior, was confined since last year in a military hospital in Davao City. His two sons, and son-in-law were detained at General Santos, also in the south. All of them were charged with rebellion in connection with the election-related massacre.
• With the help of their private armies, they reportedly resisted arrest and decided to wage a rebellion against the government to prevent authorities from taking them for investigation following the massacre of their political rivals. The rivals included members of the Mangudadatu family, their followers, lawyers, and 37 reporters.
• The four Ampatuans were reunited with Andal Ampatuan Junior, who was brought to Taguig's detention facility last Thursday. Ampatuan Junior was the only one of the clan who was charged with multiple murder in connection with last year's crime. He was detained since last year at the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) Manila office.
• A witness said that Ampatuan Junior was present when the plot to kill members of the party of Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu was hatched on November 22. He was also at the scene when the convoy of Mangudadatu's wife, sister and other family members were prevented from proceeding to file the candidacy of the vice mayor on a hilltop in Maguindanao on November 23.
• All of them will be detained at the facility where they will also undergo trial for murder and rebellion, said a Supreme Court's ruling early this week.
• Prosecutors said that Ampatuan Senior, his two sons and son-in-law will be indicted in February.
• Families of last year's victims have forged an alliance with several anti crime watchdogs.
• Residents said they were afraid for their lives, adding that Ampatuans, a very influential Muslim family in the south, might influence a large Muslim territory in Taguig.

Source: Gulfnews