No special treatment for Ampatuans

MANILA, Philippines — No special treatment will be accorded to the Ampatuan brothers once they are inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said yesterday.

Andal Unsay Ampatuan Jr., Zaldy Ampatuan and Anwar Sajid Ampatuan, along with 25 others convicted of the 2009 massacre, arrived at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City yesterday afternoon, just a few hours after the verdict was handed down in Taguig City.

Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes yesterday sentenced them to life in prison.

The convicts will go straight to the maximum security compound of the NBP after standard admission process and will be among other inmates, BuCor chief Gerald Bantag told reporters, declining to disclose the exact prison block where they will be serving their sentence.?Gabriel Chaclag, BuCor public information chief, said there would be no special treatment and privileges to be accorded to the Ampatuan brothers and the rest of the Maguindanao massacre convicts.

The Ampatuan brothers and the rest of the convicts will not benefit from the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) scheme, Sen. Richard Gordon said yesterday.

Gordon pointed out that with Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10592 or the GCTA Law, the convicts who were sentenced to reclusion perpetua, or a maximum of 40 years without benefit of parole, would not be able to use the law to walk out of the national penitentiary.

“The GCTA Law is very clear that prisoners convicted of heinous crimes are not eligible to avail of the benefit of this law. Its implementing rules and regulations have also been revised, hence the abusive implementations that the contradictions in the previous IRR allowed would no longer be possible,” he said.

Additional troops were brought to the NBP to prevent any attempts on the convicts’ lives, Chaclag said, even as the BuCor was studying other security measures now that they are inside the penitentiary.?“In these cases, we are still looking at the possible interventions of BuCor, with high profile and high risk (convicts.) We are considering the factors that can be prepared regarding their security,” Chaclag told radio dzBB.?“Rest assured that they will be well-monitored and well-guarded. The BuCor and the NBP will be ready,” he added. ?Bantag added that doctors of the Bilibid hospital would be available should the convicts need medical help.

Zaldy, the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, was brought to the Makati Medical Center in October due to stroke. He was released from hospital a day ahead of the verdict. ?“We have doctors here. They can assess if (any of them) needs to be brought outside (for medical treatment.)They can file a request at the Department of Justice,” Bantag said in Filipino. ?The BuCor suspended yesterday visitation privileges, delivery of supplies and meetings inside Bilibid to make way for the arrival of the convicts. The suspension will be lifted today.

Manhunt for 80 suspects

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), meanwhile, has ordered a manhunt for the 80 suspects in the Maguindanao massacre who remain at large.

Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa has directed the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Intelligence Group and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to spearhead manhunt operations against the other suspects, including former inspector Michael Joy Macaraeg, who snubbed the promulgation of judgment. – With Emmanuel Tupas