Bomb left outside Ampatuans’ house ahead of verdict

KORONADAL CITY –– Government security forces defused a homemade bomb left outside the mansion of the late Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr. on Wednesday afternoon in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao, the town’s information officer said.

Anwar Emblawa, information officer of Shariff Aguak, said the incident, which was later resolved by authorities here, caused traffic among commuters heading to General Santos and Cotabato City.

“The bomb was later defused. So far, the situation in the town remains normal, no (other) untoward incident was reported,” he said, as security was tightened hours before the verdict of the celebrated Ampatuan case came out in Manila.

“There were mixed emotions among residents. But one thing for sure, we hope those innocent (people) will be freed,” Emblawa added.

At least 58 people, 32 of them journalists, were killed when they joined the convoy led by the wife of former Buluan town vice mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, who was then running for governor in Maguindanao province.

The group was flagged down along the highway by over a hundred Ampatuan followers armed with assault rifles, who forced the victims to march to a nearby Sitio Masalay hill, where they were murdered, prosecutors said.

The victims’ bodies were dumped in hastily dug graves, and the suspects left behind a backhoe that has come to symbolize the crime.

Authorities captured and detained Zaldy Ampatuan, the former governor of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and his brother Datu Unsay, both accused of to have allegedly engineered the massacre.

Zaldy and Unsay are the sons of Ampatuan Sr., the clan patriarch, who died of an ailment while still on trial.

Edited by Lzb