Political Family Massacres 57

Sep 8, 2010 by James

The Ampatuan family’s dinner conversation apparently involved discussing mass murder of their political rivals just six day’s before 57 people were ambushed and killed. The family is incredibly powerful and is allegedly behind the biggest massacre in the Philippines according to witnesses. The main witness, a former house servant, said that the family discussed the massacre plans at dinner just about a week before the plan was carried out.

The dead included many of the rival political family, Mangudadatus, and about 30 reporters who were traveling with the family. One of the key suspects in the massacre was quoted as saying “just kill them all” and they certainly did. Currently there are 196 people being charged with crimes related to the massacre including the matriarch of the Ampatuan family, Andal Ampatuan Snr. The amount of people being tried has caused Manila police to build a special court room inside of the jail.

The family’s sick sense of humor was displayed even further when the family’s dinner table conversation continued. The house servant, Lakmudin Saliao, testified that Mr Ampatuan Jnr said, “That’s easy, let’s kill them all.” Mr Saliao said the elder clan leader had then asked his other children if they agreed and “everybody laughed, saying it’s OK for everybody to be killed”. The 57 bodies were all dumped into a mass grave last November in a remote mountainous area of Maguindanao, a province on the southern island of Mindanao.

At a bail hearing in January a witness described what had happened. Rasul Sangki said a roadblock had been set up and victims were loaded onto a lorry at gunpoint and taken away to the mountainside where they were mowed down by Mr Ampatuan Jnr and his men. Mr Ampatuan had been seen shooting victims at close range.

Quotes Via: BBC