MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE 4) High-powered firearms, enough for one battalion, and which have the markings of “Department of National Defense and PNP [Philippine National Police] Camp Crame” were unearthed from the diggings near the compound of a powerful clan that has been linked to the election-related killings in Maguindanao in November, PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa said Friday.
“Our estimate is that the weapons found are enough to arm one battalion,” Verzosa told a press conference, following reports from the military in Shariff Aguak, the capital of Maguindanao, that more sophisticated firearms were uncovered Thursday night in the area of Barrio 3, some 300 meters away from the compound of the Ampatuans.
Among those recovered were:
• 90-millimeter Recoiless Rifle (2),
• 57-mm Recoiless Rifle (1),
• 60-mm mortar tubes (3),
• M60 light machinegun (4),
• 8-mm mortar tubes (2),
• Caliber 50 Barret Siner rifle (1),
• Ultimax automatic rifle (1),
• Bushmaster 5.56mm rifle (1),
• Caliber 30 Browning Automatic Rifle (2),
• 7.62-mm FN FAL rifle, (1)
• AK 47 assault rifle (1),
• HK11 rifle (1),
• 5.56-mm M4 rifle (1),
• 9-mm pistols (4),
• Caliber 45 pistols (7),
• Boxes 5.56-mm. ammo (140),
• Spare barrel for caliber 50 machinegun (1),
• Bolt carrier for M16 (6),
• Assorted gunparts and magazine assemblies.
Also on Friday, illegal firearms—a 60-millimeter mortar, considered a “light weapon” —from one of the houses of the Ampatuans in Shariff Aguak, the capital of the province.
Verzosa said “light weapons” should only be assigned and given to proper security forces and not in the hands of private persons or government officials.
“Light weapons are illegal. Light weapons ito ‘yong [these are] recoilless rifle, Barrett gun, mortar…It’s possible that it is sourced from other countries,” Verzosa told reporters.
Verzosa said, however, that he has yet to verify which of the four homes yielded the illegal weapon.
Earlier on Friday, on the strength of a search warrant issued by a local court, combined elements of the military and police raided the home of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., prime suspect in the massacre last November 23, amid reports that firearms were hidden in his house.
At least 57 people, including journalists, were killed in what has been considered the worst pre-election incidence of violence in the country.
But Verzosa said search warrants were also issued for the residences of Ampatuan patriarch Andal Sr. and two homes of Mamasapano Mayor Akmad Ampatuan.
Verzosa said the site where the high-powered weapons were found buried was “fresh.”
"We were able to trace kung saan nila inilibing ‘yong malalakas na armas na mukhang ginamit ng mga suspect sa [where they buried the high-powered firearms that were apparently used by the suspects in the massacre," Verzosa said.
“Sa ngayon wala pa tayong [At this point we have no] confirmation but we are looking at different information received by our office, especially the CIDG [Criminal Investigation and Detection Group]. Iti-trace nating lahat iyan [We will trace of all those]. We will try our best to trace the origin of these armaments,” said Verzosa.
"We believe that these were used during the massacre," Colonel Leo Ferrer, commander of an army brigade in the area who led the search, said in a separate interview over GMA Network.
Major Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the military's Eastern Mindanao Command, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Friday that the “digging will continue.”
Friday’s raid by more than 100 soldiers and dozens of police at the home of Ampatuan Jr., currently in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) following his arrest, was by virtue of a search warrant that was served by members of the PNP to the caretakers.
In a live interview over GMA Network’s “Unang Hirit” morning program, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce, spokesman of the 6th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said they were there to provide support for the PNP, as soldiers backed by armored troop carriers entered the sprawling compound of the Ampatuan clan.
"They are looking for guns, bullets, everything. The warrant covers everything," Ponce told Agence France-Presse earlier on Friday.
Asked if the weapons they were looking for could have been used in the November 23 massacre, Ponce said: "It's possible. We'll look into that."
The homes of other members of the Ampatuan clan are inside the compound and soldiers were also poised to move into those, according to a photographer with the troops.
However only one house was targeted in the initial phase on Friday, Ponce said.
There were no reports of the Army or the Ampatuans firing guns as the soldiers raided the clan’s compound.
The soldiers were armed with assault rifles and wearing body armor, while at least two armored troop carriers were involved.
Ampatuan Jr. has been charged with 25 counts of murder and authorities said he would likely face more charges.
Police have also indicted Ampatuan Sr. and four other family members for their alleged role in the massacre, and were waiting for the justice department to decide whether to charge them in court.
Ampatuan Sr. is the governor of Maguindanao and has ruled the province for most of the past decade with the backing of his own private army and the support of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's ruling coalition.
However, the coalition expelled Ampatuan Sr. and Jr., as well as another relative who held a senior position on the southern island of Mindanao that encompasses Maguindanao, following the massacre.
Police allege Ampatuan Jr. and 100 of his gunmen shot dead the occupants of a convoy that included relatives of his rival for the post of Maguindanao governor in next year's elections, as well as a group of journalists.
The rival, Esmael Mangudadatu, said the killings were carried out to stop him from running for office.
The compound that was raided on Friday was surrounded by concrete walls about two meters (six feet) high and located next to the provincial headquarters.
It was unclear who, if any, of the Ampatuans were inside their homes when the compound was stormed.
Muslim rebels fighting for an independent homeland have been waging a rebellion on Maguindanao and other parts of Mindanao island since the late 1970s.
The conflict has claimed more than 150,000 lives since the late 1970s, according to military estimates.
Arroyo's government has used Muslim clans such as the Ampatuans to rule these areas, and allowed them to build up their own armies as part of a containment strategy against the insurgents.
However critics of the strategy have said this has created warlords who act outside the law, with the massacre just the most dramatic example.
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