Handcuffed remains dug up at another Ampatuan land

MANILA, Philippines - A human skeleton, handcuffed and bound with wire, was dug up at another site in Maguindanao province allegedly owned by the Ampatuan clan, Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said yesterday.

He said the skeleton was discovered in Barangay Limpungo, Datu Hoffer town Friday, and the state in which it was found may indicate “that the person may have been tortured.”

The day before, the bones of more than two persons were dug up in another Ampatuan property, near the mansion of clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., at Barangay Bagong in Shariff Aguak town, Mangudadatu said.

According to Mangudadatu, these could be the remains of victims of the “chainsaw massacre,” referring to atrocities separate from the Nov. 23, 2009 killings in Ampatuan town in the same province.

Mangudadatu on Thursday ordered six properties owned by the Ampatuan clan to be dug up after securing search warrants from a court in Metro Manila.

He said the diggings are aimed at finding more evidence against members of the Ampatuan clan and their alleged supporters in the multiple murder case pending in court in connection with the “Maguindanao massacre,” in which Mangudadatu’s wife and other relatives were killed.

Mangudadatu’s lawyer, Nena Santos, earlier said they received information that these diggings could turn up firearms used in the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre.