SULTAN KUDARAT – An unidentified assailant fired a rifle grenade on the mansion of Shariff Aguak Mayor Zahara Upam Ampatuan in Maguindanao province in the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.
The attack late on Friday caused little damage as the grenade exploded on the sprawling compound of the politician’s house. There were also no reports of casualties or injuries from the attack.
Ampatuan has reportedly went into hiding after she was accused as being involved in the massacre of 58 people, including 32 journalists and media workers who were covering a political caravan in Maguindanao in 2009. She denied all accusations against her and said politics were behind the allegations against her.
In a phone interview, Ampatuan, a peace advocate, said the grenade was probably to intimidate her and called on her constituents and supporters to stay calm. She said it is up to the authorities to investigate the attack on her house.
“Kilala po ninyo ang pagkatao ko at ang aking hangad lagi ay kapayapaan at programa para sa aking nasasakupan. Hindi ko hangad na dagdagan pa ang ginagawang gulo sa aking bayan at ipina-uubaya ko ang lahat kay Allah,” Ampatuan told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
The attack on the politician’s house came days after unidentified gunmen ambushed Akmad Ampatuan, a former town mayor of Datu Salibo, who is also the father of the acting Shariff Aguak father, Maroph Ampatuan, a political rival of Zahara.
The former mayor and two of his aides were injured in the ambush that occurred in Guindulungan town also in Maguindanao.
Ampatuan’s convoy was heading to Shariff Aguak when gunmen attacked the politician’s vehicle. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Maguindanao has been the center of violence in recent months following a spate of gun attacks and killings perpetrated by rebels and armed groups actively operating in the troubled province.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said the ex-mayor is a witness to the massacre being linked by authorities to the Ampatuan patriarch Andal and his sons, Zaldy and Unsay, who strongly denied the charges against them.
The NUJP said the ambush on the politician, who is a relative of those accused in the brutal killings, follows the murder of another witness, Dennis Sakal, and the wounding of another, Butch Saudagal, in Shariff Aguak town recently.
“It is clear that the slow pace of the trial, which has barely cleared the starting gate after more than five long years because of what have been characterized as delaying tactics, has allowed the continued intimidation, threats and assaults on witnesses and even relatives of the 58 victims, 32 of whom were our colleagues.”
“Worse, the most recent incidents appear to be the offshoot of an ongoing tug-of-war over witnesses, with both defense and prosecution claiming Sakal as their own, and reports alleging that Akmad had threatened Sakal in an attempt to have him jump ship from the defense,” the NUJP said.
It said the continued impunity with which witnesses and others involved in the trial are threatened and assaulted can only make justice ever more elusive.
“We reiterate our demand for government to fulfil its pledge of justice by ensuring not just a swift but, most importantly, a fair trial and to fulfil its obligation to protect everyone involved in the Massacre trial. The administration has acknowledged that this case will be a litmus test of its determination. Alas, it is a test it seems to be failing very badly,” it said. (Mindanao Examiner – With a report from Rose Muneza.)
Like Us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mindanaoexaminer
Follow Us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MindanaoExamine
Read Our News on: http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/ and http://www.mindanaoexaminer.net/
20