Army commander testifies he was warned of massacre

The former commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command on Wednesday admitted that there were intelligence reports on the possible involvement of some members of the local police in a plan to kill Esmael “Toto” Mangundadatu if he dared to challenge the Ampatuan clan’s political supremacy in Maguindanao in 2009.

Retired Lieutenant General Raymundo Ferrer also told a Quezon City trial court on Wednesday that Mangudadatu, then Buluan vice mayor, had called him “several times” on the morning of Nov. 23, 2009 to ask for a security back-up as he  intended to file his candidacy that day for the province’s gubernatorial race.

Taking the witness stand at the Maguindanao massacre trial, Ferrer said he was in Manila to attend a meeting so he relayed the request to division commander General Alfredo Cayton, who had replied that the security request was more of “a police matter.”

Ferrer told Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes that when he received text messages by noontime of the reported abduction of the Mangudadatu  convoy, he immediately ordered his men to confirm the reports, adding that he feared those abducted might end up dead. Mangudadatu, who had not joined the convoy,  had also sent Ferrer text messages telling him of the missing convoy led by the vice mayor’s wife and sisters.

‘They might be dead’

Recalling his phone conversation with a junior officer, a Major  Navarro, Ferrer said: “I instructed him to locate the people abducted… I told him, if we cannot find them, they might be killed.”

Asked by private prosecutor Prima Jesusa Quinsayas why he feared the abducted people may be killed, the officer replied that he had served as division commander of the Mindanao-based 6th Infantry Batallion. “I had knowledge of the reputation of the Ampatuans… We had information and intelligence reports of a plan against Toto Mangudadatu regarding his filing of candidacy papers,” he said.

Ferrer said the junior officer informed him at around 3 p.m. that they had found five vehicles in Barangay (village) Salman and dead bodies strewn all over.

“My response was, it was already a crime scene, so preserve the crime scene by securing it. Do not allow anyone, particularly members of the Maguindanao police, until we get clearance and coordinate with other police agencies,” Ferrer told the court.

Members of the Ampatuan clan led by Andal Ampatuan Jr. are among 196 accused—among them ranking members of the Maguindanao police force—for the murder of Mangudadatu’s wife Genalin and 56 others in the convoy. At least 30 of the dead were media representatives.

Judges on leave

According to reports, the convoy was waylaid at the junction of Ampatuan town by some 100 armed men, allegedly led by Andal Jr. The passengers were taken to an upland grassy spot and gunned down.

In the following days, Ferrer said “there were attempts to hide” Andal Jr., the primary suspect.

They had difficulty securing arrest and search warrants as they could not locate any judge in Maguindanao and Cotabato City to sign the orders, he added.

“Based on feedback from the PNP elements, the judges had gone on leave,” he said.

Andal Jr., who was eventually taken into custody on Nov. 26,  had to be flown to General Santos City via helicopter for inquest proceedings.

This was because there was no one at the provincial capitol to oversee the inquest proceedings that day.

This prompted the military hierarchy to redeploy two military units from Sarangani to  Maguindanao.

On Dec. 4, 2009, martial law was declared in Maguindanao. Ferrer was designated administrator.

“There was a breakdown of local government in Maguindanao and we had to deploy additional troops to restore peace and order,” Ferrer explained.

As martial law administrator in the province, Ferrer said he issued mission orders “to effect the arrest of the primary suspects” in the massacre.