Ombudsman orders forfeiture of Ampatuan Sr.'s P55M unexplained wealth

The Ombudsman has ordered the filing of a forfeiture case against the estate of the late Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his widow Bai Laila Uy Ampatuan over their alleged unexplained wealth worth P55 million.

A lifestyle check conducted by Ombudsman investigators showed that Ampatuan Sr.’s wealth "is manifestly out of proportion to respondent’s salary as former Governor of Maguindanao and to their other lawful income and income from legitimately acquired properties."

The properties, amounting to P54,965,526.88, were acquired in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The lifestyle check also showed that based on Ampatuan’s income tax returns from 2001 to 2008, his net income was the following:

2001 - P304,721.91
2002 - P310, 773.09
2003 - P1,196,403.67
2004 - P1,423,443.94
2005 - P1,560,327.92
2006 - P1,560,170.78
2007 - P1,608,120.76
2008 - P1,631,128.06

Meanwhile, data from Ampatuan’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) from 2000 to 2007 showed that he had the following assets:

2000 - P6,221,950.00
2001 - P10,829,297.17
2002 - P26,248,726.50
2003 - P25,748,726.50
2004 - P26,136,622.33
2005 - P24,538,818.16
2006 - P25,081,238.00
2007 - P26,705,250.00

The Ombudsman, however, found that Ampatuan did not declare 15 real estate properties located in the cities of Cotabato and Davao. The real estate properties have a total declared value of P55,134,283.10.

Moreover, the late governor failed to declare 25 vehicles worth P27,567,000, of which 10 were paid by the Ampatuans in cash.

Also part of Ampatuan’s undeclared properties were 23 firearms worth P3,838,000, the Ombudsman found.

Republic Act No. 1379 states that any property found to have been unlawfully acquired by any public official or employee would be forfeited in favor of the state.

“Under Section 2 of Republic Act 1379, whenever any public officer or employee has acquired during his incumbency an amount of property which is manifestly out of proportion to his salary as such public officer and to his other lawful income and the income from legitimately acquired property, said property shall be presumed prima facie to have been unlawfully acquired,” Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales in a joint resolution approved on December 23, 2016.

In their defense, the Ampatuans challenged the Ombudsman findings and stressed that the properties the late governor allegedly owns were either registered to another person or lacked evidence to support the claimed ownership.

The respondents also claimed that the father of Ampatuan Sr. “was an affluent man” from whom “he inherited several properties.”

As for the firearms, Andal Sr. had earlier claimed that they “were given by friends, relatives and political allies through the years without monetary consideration.”

Ombudsman Morales, however, junked their defenses.

“There is clear and convincing evidence that Ampatuan accumulated wealth manifestly disproportionate to his lawful and legitimate income for 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007, and he and his family failed to lead modest lives appropriate to their positions and income due to their extravagant and ostentatious display of wealth,” Morales said.

In addition, Morales said, “Ampatuan’s death does not operate to extinguish his liabilities under R.A. No. 1379 and the government is not precluded from recovering his unexplained wealth. Notably, a petition for forfeiture may still be filed against his estate.”

Ampatuan Sr., 74, died on July 17, 2015 at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City. He suffered a heart attack and went into a coma.

He was the patriarch of the Ampatuan clan and suspect in the worst case of election-related violence in Philippine history — the  November 2009 Maguindanao Massacre that left 58 people, including 32 journalists, dead. —KBK, GMA News