Andal Ampatuan Sr.

Andal "Andy" Ampatuan Sr. (1940/1941 – July 17, 2015) was a Filipino politician who was the main suspect in the Maguindanao massacre. He was the patriarch of the Ampatuan political family in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. He was elected Governor of Maguindanao in 2001, defeating incumbent Governor Zacaria Candao.

Andal Ampatuan Sr.
Governor of Maguindanao
In office
June 30, 2001 – 2008
Preceded byZacaria Candao
Succeeded bySajid Ampatuan
Mayor of Maganoy (Shariff Aguak)
In office
1988 – June 30, 1998
In office
?–1986
Personal details
Bornc. 1940
Mindanao, Commonwealth of the Philippines
DiedJuly 17, 2015 (aged 74–75)
Quezon City, Philippines
Political partyLakas–CMD/Lakas–Kampi–CMD (until 2009)
Spouse(s)Laila Uy and 5 others[1]
ChildrenAround 40, including Zaldy and Andal Jr.[1]

Political career

Ampatuan was a vice mayor when President Ferdinand Marcos appointed him as mayor and officer-in-charge of Maganoy (now Shariff Aguak). When Corazon Aquino came into power via the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, she replaced every locally elected official with officers-in-charge. Ampatuan Sr. was replaced by another Ampatuan, Datu Modi who served for two years in that capacity.[2]

After the 1988 local election, Andal Ampatuan Sr. served for ten years as mayor. In the 2001 elections, Andal Sr. was elected as governor.

In 2001, the Ampatuan clan solidified its hold on power through a close friendship with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when she assumed the presidency after EDSA People Power II. During the 2004 presidential elections, Arroyo dominated the polls in Shariff Aguak and most of Maguindanao. Amid speculation that cheating had occurred in Maguindanao and other Mindanao provinces, results were contested by Arroyo's main rival, popular actor Fernando Poe Jr. The 2007 mid term elections for the Philippines senate had Maguindanao in focus once more as it was the only province that returned a 12-0 win for Arroyo's senate slate, Team Unity.[3]

The Citizen Armed Force Geographic Unit (CAFGU) was created on July 25, 1987, when President Corazon C. Aquino signed Executive Order No. 264 entitled "Providing for the Citizen Armed Force".

In 2006, Arroyo issued Executive Order 546, allowing local officials and the police to deputize local militia to aid in the fight against insurgents. These are locally known as civilian volunteer organizations or CVOs. The Executive Order was issued shortly after an assassination attempt on Andal Ampatuan Sr.[4]

Role in the Maguindanao massacre

Ampatuan's sons, Zaldy Ampatuan and Andal Ampatuan Jr., are both members of his political clan. Andal Ampatuan Jr. came to international attention in November 2009 as the prime suspect in the Maguindanao massacre.[5] As a result, all three Ampatuans were expelled from President Gloria Arroyo's Lakas Kampi CMD political party.[5] Andal Jr. was detained by the Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation and was charged with multiple counts of murder after having been arrested on December 1, 2009.[6]

In 2011 Ampatuan pled not guilty in court to charges of having overseen the massacre.[7]

Before the court case concluded, Ampatuan died on July 17, 2015, in Quezon City after falling into a coma caused by a heart attack.[8]

In 2019 Ampatuan's sons Zaldy, Andal Jr., and Anwar Sr., as well as other relatives and accomplices, were convicted of 57 counts of murder.[9]

References
  1. Arguillas, Carolyn O. (December 7, 2019). "Shamefully rich clan has 35 houses, fleet of wheels". Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. Archived from the original on November 23, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  2. "Cory gave Ampatuan patriarch his break". Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  3. "Lotto Results for November 25, 2009". Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  4. "In Maguindanao, no one dares cross the Ampatuans". Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  5. Conde, Carlos H.; Norimitsu Onishi (November 25, 2009). "Suspect in Philippine Election Killings Surrenders". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
  6. "Andal Ampatuan Jr Murder". Huffington Post. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  7. "Philippines massacre: Andal Ampatuan Sr denies killings". BBC News. June 1, 2011. Archived from the original on June 2, 2011.
  8. ABS-CBNnews.com, Aaron Lozada. "Andal Ampatuan Sr. is dead". ABS-CBN News.
  9. "Maguindanao massacre verdict: Zaldy Ampatuan, Andal Jr. found guilty of murder". The Philippine Star. December 19, 2019. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
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