EDITORIAL - Mini Ampatuans

At least 54 refurbished M16 rifles intended for the provincial police were sold for P55,000 each to local politicians. For a fee, police personnel who are set to retire can get a bogus property clearance from someone at Camp Crame, headquarters of the Philippine National Police, certifying that they have turned over their government-issued firearms to the PNP. Some of the guns, illegally held, are kept for personal use by the retired cops; other guns are sold.

These are just some of the anomalies involving government-issued weapons that are being uncovered in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where the Ampatuan clan has built up a massive private army. The Ampatuans, according to the PNP, lobbied for the assignment of certain police officials in the ARMM, giving the clan unfettered access to PNP equipment, vehicles and weaponry.

In fact the government looked the other way during those years when the Ampatuans served the purposes of the Arroyo administration. The clan, whose members occupied until a few weeks ago practically all the top local government positions in the ARMM, supported President Arroyo and her candidates in the 2004 and 2007 elections. The Ampatuans were allowed to build up their weaponry ostensibly as a foil against the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and other security threats.

In July 2006, the President issued Executive Order 546, allowing local government officials to organize Civilian Volunteer Organizations to serve as “force multipliers” against such threats, despite a constitutional ban on private armed groups. The EO was issued shortly after the public market of Shariff Aguak, capital of Maguindanao, was bombed. Five people died, but the supposed target of the attack, Andal Ampatuan, survived.

The government would not have raised a fuss over the clan’s private army, even during the forthcoming elections, if not for the deployment of that army last month against the Ampatuans’ distant relatives, the Mangudadatus, that led to the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao. Now that the public has had a glimpse of the clan’s numerous mansions, its vast fleet of luxury vehicles, and its immense firepower, investigators should not be baffled by the source of the wealth and the weaponry.

While tracking down its weapons in the ARMM, the PNP should also turn its attention to other politicians, particularly administration allies. The Ampatuan clan isn’t the only one in the country with enormous firepower. There are many mini-Ampatuans out there, and their weapons also came from government arsenals.