Andal Ampatuan Jr. gets 210 years for graft

MANILA, Philippines — Convicted murderer Andal Ampatuan Jr. has been sentenced to a total of up to 210 years in prison for graft charges over a P238.3-million fuel supply deal. The ruling coincided with the 14th anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre that left 58 people, including 32 journalists, dead.

In a 96-page decision promulgated yesterday afternoon, the Sandiganbayan’s Sixth Division found Ampatuan guilty of 21 counts of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. He is perpetually disqualified from holding public office.

Ampatuan has been ordered to pay P44.183 million in civil liability to the Maguindanao provincial government.

Graft charges were filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2018 over a fuel supply deal during the term of late governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. from 2001 to 2008.

Aside from Ampatuan Jr., former provincial budget officer Datu Ali Abpi, former assistant provincial engineer Samsudin Sema and former project engineer Omar Camsa were also convicted. Court records showed that Abpi had already passed away.

As for former provincial accountant John Estelito Dollosa Jr., former provincial treasurer Osmeña Bandila and former project engineer Pendi Abpet, their cases have been temporarily archived as they remain at-large.

The decision was penned by Sixth Division chairperson Associate Justice Sarah Jane Fernandez with the concurrence of Associate Justices Karl Miranda and Kevin Narce Vivero.

Ampatuan Jr. is currently detained in the New Bilibid Prison after he was convicted of 57 counts of murder for the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

14th anniversary

Media groups yesterday commemorated the 14th anniversary of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, dubbed as the single worst attack against journalists in world history.

Although some suspects were convicted in 2019, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) noted that the court’s ruling has yet to attain finality and families have yet to receive compensation for the loss of their loved ones.

The NUJP also recalled the case of photojournalist Reynaldo Momay, the 58th victim whose remains were not found.

In December 2019, a Quezon City court convicted 28 suspects, including prominent members of the Ampatuan clan, of 57 counts of murder.

They were sentenced to 40 years in prison.

At least 56 suspects, mostly police officers and alleged members of the so-called private army of the Ampatuan clan, were acquitted while 15 others were convicted of accessory to the crime of murder. — Janvic Mateo