Ampatuan Jr. sheds tears for father in coma

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Former Maguindanao governor and the alleged mastermind of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre Andal Ampatuan Sr. is in a coma after suffering a “massive heart attack,” his lawyer said on Monday.

In a Radyo Inquirer 990 AM interview, Atty. Salvador Panelo said that Ampatuan was transferred to the intensive care unit of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) where he is currently confined for advanced liver cancer.

“Last Monday, he suffered a massive heart attack. That is why he is in a comatose stage right now. He was rushed to the ICU on Sunday, (and) he has been in a coma for four days,” Panelo said.

The lawyer said that Ampatuan’s son and massacre suspect, Datu Unsay Andal Ampatuan Jr. was allowed by the court to visit his father for two hours: from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m on Tuesday.

He said that the Andal Jr. became emotional upon seeing his father.

“Umiyak si Datu Unsay. Niyakap niya yung ama niya. Tapos kinakausap niya, binubulungan niya. (Datu Unsay was crying. He hugged his father. He was also talking and whispering to him.),” Panelo added.

Two detained Ampatuan sons, Zaldy and Anwar, have also filed motions asking the court’s permission to visit their ailing father.

Panelo, meanwhile, said that a day before the Ampatuan patriarch slipped into a coma, Ampatuan Sr. said that he wanted to recover from his health problems so that he can testify before the court.

“My only regret is that if I had a way, I would have put him on the witness stand. And allow the court to hear his side on the accusations against him.”

“Noong nakausap ko siya noong Sabado, sabi niya gusto niyang gumaling sana para makapag-testify siya. Dahil sa limang taon na pagkakulong niya, hindi niya naiparinig sa hukuman yung tunay na nanagyrai at wala siyang kinalaman pati ang kanyang pamilya,” the lawyer further said.

(When I talked to him last Saturday, he said that he is hoping for his recovery so that he can testify. During the past five years he was detained, he was not able to air his side and tell the truth: that he and his family were not involved in the massacre.)

The brutal carnage, which was allegedly a bid to stop rival Mangudadatu family from challenging them in the local elections, resulted to the death of 58 people, including 32 journalists.

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