‘Ampatuan bail donated by relatives’

MANILA, Philippines - The clan’s assets have been frozen by the courts. So where did former Maguindanao officer-in-charge Sajid Islam Ampatuan, a defendant in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, get the P11.6 million for his bail?

Some of his relatives chipped in, and the actual amount posted is just a percentage of the P11.6 million, Ampatuan’s lawyer told The STAR yesterday.

 Lawyer Gregorio Marquez said his client did not shell out the total amount set by Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221.

Ampatuan had applied for a surety bond from an insurance company, Marquez said.

The court received documents from an insurance firm stating that they have processed the surety bond of the defendant.

The insurance company must produce the entire P11.6 million should the suspect jump bail and the court rules to forfeit the money.

Marquez refused to disclose the premium paid by Ampatuan to Travellers Insurance and Surety Corp., but said it was considerably lower than the multimillion-peso bail set by the court.

“It is usually a certain percentage of the bail set by the court,” Marquez said.

When asked how his client was able to produce the premium, which sources said could still reach at least over a P1 million, Marquez said Ampatuan’s relatives pitched in to raise the amount.

He noted that Ampatuan’s wife, Shariff Saydona Mustapha Mayor Zandria Sinsuat Ampatuan, is a member of the Sinsuat family, another known political clan in the province.

“It would not be difficult for them to raise the money,” Marquez said.

Earlier, several groups questioned the capability of Ampatuan, whose assets were ordered frozen by the court, to raise the P11.6 million bail.