Andal Sr., Zaldy Ampatuan said to be feuding

MANILA, Philippines—Zaldy Ampatuan has asked to be moved to another cell away from his father, Andal Ampatuan Sr., the patriarch of the clan accused of being behind the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

The new warden of the Quezon City Jail Annex at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City told Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo of Zaldy’s request during the latter’s surprise inspection of the facility early Monday morning.

Senior Insp. Edgar Camus said he did not know what prompted Zaldy, a former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, to ask to be separated from his father.

“I don’t have the request right now, but I will take it up to my superiors,” Camus told the Inquirer later by phone. He declined to answer more questions, saying he was not authorized to comment on the matter.

Robredo made the unannounced 6 a.m. visit in the wake of reports that the Ampatuans were being accorded VIP treatment in the jail as they await trial for the killing of 57 people in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao, on Nov. 23, 2009.

Upon his invitation, the Inquirer and another broadsheet joined Robredo.

During the inspection, Zaldy and Andal Sr. were not in their shared cell. Both were in the air-conditioned infirmary, Zaldy seated in a chair waiting to receive his insulin shot, and Andal Sr., nursing a swollen leg, seated on a bed.

A partition partially hid the bed and Andal Sr. from view. Father and son did not appear to be speaking to each other.

Father-son gap?

Meanwhile, a government official, who sought anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said he was privy to a rift between father and son.

He said that even before Zaldy asked to be moved to another cell, a member of Zaldy’s family had revealed to him that there was dissension within the Ampatuan clan, with Zaldy supposedly inclined to turn against his father.

“Now it’s a question of what Zaldy is prepared to reveal in exchange for what the government can offer him,” the official said, adding though that he thought it unlikely that Zaldy would turn on Andal Sr.

The Ampatuans, six in all, are in detention with over 90 others awaiting trial for the massacre that claimed 57 lives, including those of 31 journalists.

The fateful day
The clan allegedly wanted to stop at all cost a convoy of relatives and supporters of then Buluan Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu that was on its way to Shariff Aguak to file the mayor’s candidacy papers for the governorship of Maguindanao, a post Andal Ampatuan Jr. also coveted.

More than 100 armed men stopped the six–vehicle convoy and allegedly killed all who were in it, including Mangudadatu’s wife, sisters and lawyers, and 31 journalists who were to cover the event.

At the jail, the six Ampatuans occupy Cell 1. The 90 or so other accused who have been arrested are crammed in Cells 2-4.

No special treatment
On this surprise visit, only brothers Andal Jr., Sajid and Anwar, and their nephew Akmad were in the cell while Andal Sr. and Zaldy were at the clinic.

Their jailers insisted they were not being given VIP treatment, pointing out that the amenities in their cell, including an electric fan, TV, water dispenser and a toilet, were standard in prison facilities across the country.

Robredo said he would reserve judgment on the amenities. The results of his department’s probe of alleged special privileges granted to the Ampatuans made by Mangudadatu will likely come out on Friday, he said.

Not even Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Director Rosendo Dial knew of his 6 a.m. inspection, according to Robredo, who had earlier ordered the relief of jail warden Chief Insp. Glennford Valdepeñas and his subordinates.

Valdepeñas’ replacement, Camus, showed Robredo around the compound.