Arrest warrants out for Maguindanao town mayor, vice mayor, 4 sisters for 2012 murder

SULTAN SA BARONGIS, Maguindanao – The Regional Trial Court’s Branch 13 in Cotabato City, issued on Friday, an arrest warrant against the incumbent mayor and vice-mayor of this town, together with their sisters for a murder case.

But the accused, four of them young women, cried harassment.

The complainant, Sukarno Badal, a state witness in the Maguindanao massacre, is also running for vice-mayor, ostensibly to retake the post that he lost following the November 23, 2009 carnage.

The case filed by Badal against incumbent Mayor Ramdatu Angas, his brother Vice-Mayor Allandatu Angas, and their sisters Diamond, Sittie Alma, Mohana and Rohana, stemmed from the killing of a resident Salim Ibrahim on April 23, 2012.

Through their lawyer Ronald Torres, the respondents sought to quash the arrest warrants, citing that in any culture, it was unlikely that murder plans would be plotted with women.

Court documents said witness Allan Utto, who as “ustadz (preacher) buried the victim,” said he overheard the accused siblings talking about the murder plot.

Maguindanao Board Member Jofner Angas, one of the accused, said that the oft-repeated term “politically motivated” was an “understatement” in their case, as he learned that another complaint was being readied against other municipal council members, which would mean no more incumbent officials could run for local posts. Also named respondent was Nasser Angas, the first municipal councilor.

Citing court cases in other towns, which led to appointments of officers-in-charge, local officials said the pattern could be setting “unfair precedents of short-cuts to winning elective posts, without actually being voted to office.”

But Mayor Angas told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone that they have made sure local government services would not be interrupted nor hampered by the case. He added that they were hopeful of securing a temporary restraining order (TRO), or an urgent petition for review to stop their suspension from office.  SFM