Shariff Aguak mayor hopes for speedy, favorable ruling on RPG ambush complaint

Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur Mayor Akmad “Mitra” Ampatuan Sr. on Monday expressed hope for a speedy and favorable ruling on the complaint he filed against 15 individuals with the Department of Justice (DOJ) over an ambush in January.

Ampatuan, accompanied by his legal counsel, personally attended the preliminary probe at the department on his complaint for violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

“Sana ‘yung na-file namin na kaso, hinihingi ko sa DOJ malabas kaagad ‘yan para matigilan na itong mga ganito-ganito. Kasi doon sa amin natakot na ‘yung mga tao doon. Bakit natakot? kKasi sunud-sunod ‘yung nangyari sa akin,” he said in an ambush interview.

(I hope the case we filed will immediately be ruled on because these kinds of incidents need to stop. In our place, the people there have already become afraid. Why are they afraid? Because what happened to me kept happening one after another.)

To recall, Ampatuan was on his way home when suspects in a minivan fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at his convoy. While the mayor was unharmed, two persons were wounded.

Ampatuan stressed that this is the fifth ambush that he survived.

Despite this, the mayor said he has no plans of going into hiding.

“Wala naman akong kasalanan sa kanila na mag tago ako. Wala akong maisip na ano kong kasalanan ko sa kanila. Ano— saan ako banda mag tago doon. Wala akong utang sa kanila eh. Kasi ito, kami-kami rin ito na pamilya eh,” he said.

(I did not do anything wrong against them for me to hide. I cannot think of any wrongdoing I committed against them. Why— where exactly would I hide from them? I do not owe them anything. In this matter, we are all family.)

“Dapat aksyunan kaagad ito nang maglabas na ‘yung katotohanan,” he added.

(This should be acted upon immediately so that the truth can come out.)

Meanwhile, when asked why the complaint is for violation of the ATA, lawyer Cyrus Torreña said the ambush sowed fear amongst the community due to the use of an RPG, a weapon designed to be used by soldiers to destroy armored vehicles and fortifications.

“Ang terrorism kasi, ang primary element ng anti-terror natin ay dapat nag so-sow siya. Bali nag tatanim siya ng takot sa mga ordinary citizen,” he said.

(Terrorism, because the primary element of our anti-terror law, is that it must sow fear. In other words, it plants fear among ordinary citizens.)

“Sa pag ambush kay mayor using an RPG para hindi na siya ordinaryo na sitwasyon. Parang sometimes, nakikita na lang natin siya sa pelikula pero ‘yun pala hindi siya pelikula pero totoo na pala siya na pangyayari,” he added.

(In the ambush on the mayor using an RPG, it was no longer an ordinary situation. Sometimes, we only see that in movies, but it turns out it was not a film—it had actually become a real incident.)

Torreña said 10 persons were represented by a legal counsel while two were not. He said three of the respondents have passed away.

The next hearing will be on May 26.

Torreña said that none of the respondents have submitted their counter-affidavits.

When asked if Ampatuan is receiving threats against his life, Torreña said that Ampatuan’s nephew was killed in a separate ambush in February. He said they will file a separate complaint on the matter. —RF, GMA News