Mangudadatu scion seeks P3B from Ampatuans

MANILA, Philippines—Saying that they were of royal blood, a niece of Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu on Thursday asked for at least P3 billion in damages for the gruesome killing of her mother in the Maguindanao massacre.

At the resumption of the trial in Quezon City, Bai Ayesha Vanessa Hajar D. Andamen, eldest daughter of Bai Eden Mangudadatu, said her mother’s death devastated their family and left her six young siblings under her care.

“It pained me and I wanted to cry … I could not believe it. I prayed that it wasn’t true,” Andamen recalled the moment she learned of her mother’s death.

“That should not have happened. Killing women is prohibited under our Muslim customs,” she said.

Eden Mangudadatu was one of seven Mangudadatu women killed in the massacre on Nov. 23, 2009, in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, which left at least 57 civilians dead and is considered the worst political killing in the country’s history.

The Mangudadatu women were on their way to Shariff Aguak to file Toto’s certificate of candidacy, thinking that they would not be harmed because hurting women in political disputes is looked down upon in Maguindanao.

Eden’s body was recovered riddled with 10 gunshot wounds.

“I wanted to cry but in our tradition, tears would only make it harder for the dead to ascend to heaven,” Andamen later told reporters.

Unlike the other victims’ relatives who had testified in court, the 24-year-old Mangudadatu scion did not cry when she took the witness stand Thursday to speak about her mother’s death.

“I didn’t want to give the Ampatuans the satisfaction of seeing me cry,” she said.