New massacre suspect: I’m ready to face charges

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – City administrator Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said on Friday that she was ready to face the charges filed against her by relatives of victims of the Maguindanao massacre.

Sayadi, a sister of Mayor Japal Guiani Jr., was one of 50 new suspects charged last Tuesday in connection with the 2009 massacre that left 58 people, mostly journalists, killed. She said she was ready to answer the allegations at the proper time and venue.

Sayadi was the solicitor general of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) when the killings, allegedly perpetrated by the Ampatuan clan, occurred.  She said she was not a political adviser of the Ampatuans.

Relatives of the victims included Sayadi in a complaint signed last Tuesday in front of provincial prosecutor Tocod Ronda and private prosecutor Nena Santos in Buluan town, the new capital of Maguindanao.

Fourteen of the latest group of massacre suspects are members of the Ampatuan clan, among them Benzar and Nanon, both grandsons of former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.

Benzar is the mayor of Mamasapano town in the second district of Maguindanao. His mother, Rebecca, daughter of detained clan patriarch Andal Sr., was also named respondent in the case.

Also charged were the former governor’s daughters-in-law, Reshal and Sahara, who are mayors of Datu Unsay and Sharif Aguak towns, respectively.

Sayadi told reporters the allegations against her were politically motivated. She has been the city administrator since 2010 under her mayor-brother, who is seeking a third term in 2016.