The government will file on Tuesday rebellion charges against the patriarch of the powerful Ampatuan clan and one of his sons in connection with the ongoing turmoil in Maguindanao province.

Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said the charges were on top of the multiple murder investigation being done on former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., who is implicated in the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in the province.

Aside from Ampatuan Sr., also to be charged before a Cotabato court is his son, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan. Both are now under government custody.

Devanadera said they are also evaluating pieces of evidence to determine if 22 others, including several Ampatuans, could be charged with rebellion.

“We go by the evidence. We are evaluating the evidence to determine who will undergo the inquest proceedings tomorrow [Tuesday], but I am positive on Andal Sr. and ARMM governor Zaldy Ampatuan,” she said.

The filing of case before the court is pursuant to the requirement under the Constitution that all persons arrested or detained during the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus shall be judicially charged within three days, or otherwise released.

Organized armed forces

Malacañang last Friday placed the entire Maguindanao province under martial law and suspended the writ of habeas corpus there to contain what it alleged as an Ampatuan-led rebellion.

Devanadera said the best evidence of the rebellion was the presence of organized armed groups in the province allegedly upon the orders of the Ampatuans. She said these armed units are functioning independently from the central government and are only following local leaders.

“Our basis is that it’s a government independent of the Republic. They were running and they were giving out orders, even unlawful orders, and the orders were being followed because the armed groups really ensured that the orders are being carried out,” she said.

In a press briefing in Malacañang on Sunday, Armed Forces deputy chief for operations Maj. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan said the number of armed men still unaccounted for in the province could reach up to 4,000.

He said these men are capable of bombing attacks, arson and hijacking of buses and trucks in isolated areas.

Devanadera said even the government offices and the delivery of basic services in the province depend on the orders of Ampatuan Sr.

Warlords, not rebels

The filing of rebellion charges against the Ampatuans, however, does not sit well with progressive-militant group Akbayan, which said the move may be President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s way of acquitting the powerful political family.

The Ampatuans were known allies of the President prior to the Nov. 23 massacre, considered as one of the worst political violence in the country.

Akbayan president Ronald Llamas said filing a rebellion case against the Ampatuans may only hamper their prosecution in connection with the massacre case.

“Hindi sila [Ampatuans] rebels. Sila ay warlords na matagal nang ka-alyado ng Pangulong Arroyo (They are not rebels. They are warlords that have long been allied with President Arroyo,” Llamas said.

Another Ampatuan family member, Andal Jr., is currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) compound in Manila. He has so far been slapped with 25 counts of murder in connection with the massacre, the victims of which included members of the rival Mangudadatu clan.

-gmanews