Ex-child assassin: ‘I killed hundreds for the Ampatuans’

MANILA, Philippines – A man who admits to have worked as a child assassin for the powerful Ampatuan clan based in Maguindanao province came forward with “shocking” testimony of mass murders carried out by young boys in the service of the Ampatuan family.

“Abdul” (not his real name) told ABS-CBN News that he was 12 when Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan allegdly sent him on a mission to kill one of the family’s political rivals—a councilor for Sultan Kudarat.

Abdul said he had been in the family’s service since he was 10. The Ampatuans funded his education from 4th grade to 3rd year high school.

When the Ampatuans allegedly ordered him to kill the councilor, then 12-year-old Abdul did not disappoint.

“Pinapasok ako sa bahay niya. Inabangan ko lang pag-uwi. Pagdating na niya sa bahay niya, doon ko na siya babanatan,” Abdul told ABS-CBN News in an interview 2 weeks ago.

(I was allowed to enter the councilor’s house. I waited for him to come home. When he came home, that’s when I would kill him)

“Pero meron akong mga kasama. Ako lang pumapasok. Naka-uniform ako ng estudyante. Kahit saan ako papasok-pasok, wala namang sumisita,” he said.

(But I had companions. I was the only one who entered the house. I was in my school uniform. I would go in and out of places, no one would stop me.)

As a child assassin for the Ampatuans, Abdul said he killed no less than 100 people.

Training camps

Abdul said he and 30 other young boys had been brought to a training camp in the mountains of South Upi municipality in Maguindanao, around 32 miles southeast of Sultan Kudarat.

He claimed they were trained by Palestinians and Indonesians in combat tactics.

“Para ring sundalo ‘yong training kasi iba ‘yong pagturo sa amin. Lahat nandoon na, parang paghawak ng baril, pagputok at pagtutok ng baril sa tao. (We were trained like soldiers. Everything was there, like how to hold a gun, how to aim a gun and how to shoot a person),” Abdul said.

From then on, Abdul said, murder became a normal routine. He alleged that he carried out kill orders without question and without knowing whether the victims had done anything wrong.

“Hindi naman ako nagtatanong kasi nakikita [namin] harap-harapan. Hanggang sa kuwan na kami, hinaharap—kinakausap kaming lahat. [Kapag] may magtanong, patay agad. (I never asked questions because we knew up front. They would face us all and talk to us. Anyone who would question would be killed),” he said.

Abdul, now in his late 20s, is currently in the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Jail on charges of murder. He has been incarcerated for 10 years. He is serving a 15-year sentence.

He said he decided to come forward with his story after he “could not sleep since his conscience was bothering him.” He was also said to have harbored ill feelings for the Ampatuan family for not helping him resolve the murder charges against him.

Direct orders from governor?

Asked who among the Ampatuans gave him orders, Abdul claimed it was ARMM Gov. Ampatuan who was then a mayor of Shariff Aguak town.

“Hindi po direct sa akin. ‘Yon pong katiwala niya. (He didn’t order me directly. Zaldy’s aide would),” he said.

The last time he had spoken to the Ampatuans, Abdul told ABS-CBN News, was in 2003. Before that, he claimed the Ampatuans would sometimes break him out of jail to carry out murders.

In one instance, Abdul said he was sneaked out of jail to ambush another group of Ampatuan’s political enemies.

Abdul said he shot and killed 3 victims right at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) headquarters in Intramuros, Manila on November 2, 2002. This time, it was Atty. Felix Lidasan and his cousin Armando Macapeges, along with the latter’s brother Jamal Macapeges.

“Tatlo ‘yon. Hinabol ko nga, hinabol ko pa. ‘Yong dalawa, on the spot, patay. ‘Yong isa, nasa ospital nang mamatay. (There were 3 of them. I even had to chase them. The two were dead on the spot. The other one died at the hospital),” he said.

Lidasan and Macapages were at the Comelec to follow-up an electoral protest against Matanog mayor Nasser Imam, an in-law of current Shariff Aguak Mayor Anwar Ampatuan.

Ampatuans hands-on in killings too?

Abdul claimed Zaldy was present at the time of the murders.

Zaldy, Anwar, family patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his son Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. were recently arrested over the murder of 57 civilians and journalists in Ampatuan town.

Among his numerous exploits as a hired gun, Abdul said he could not forget the massacre of his town mates who refused to give up their land to the Ampatuans. The powerful clan controlled the political and economic powers in Maguindanao and its adjacent areas.

“Sinusunog ‘yong bahay. Nasasagasaan pati ang bata, matanda. Inuubos namin ‘yon. Walang makababa eh. Pero gabi, gabi namin ginagawa. (We would burn their houses. Children and the elderly were not spared. No one could escape. We would do it at night),” Abdul said.

In many of the murders, Abdul claimed he was accompanied by a certain “Major Mukamad,” who is allegedly Chief Inspector Saudi Mukamad, leader of the 1057th Police Provincial Mobile Group, a police combat group.

Mukamad was implicated by witnesses as one of the perpetrators of the Ampatuan town massacre, according to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). He has been relieved from his post. .

‘Like a movie’

There have been many reports of insurgents or terrorist groups using child soldiers in combat.

However, the alleged use child assassins by Philippine warlords came as a surprise to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

AFP spokesperson Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said they could not find alleged training camps in South Upi, as described by Abdul in his interview.

“Maaaring ang nangyari was that they went into this area, nag-training sila and then umalis din sila. (What could have happened was they went to this area and trained there. Then they left),” Brawner said, suggesting that there may not be permanent training facilities for child assassins in the area.

CHR Chair Leila de Lima, meanwhile, wants a full investigation into the matter.

“If this is true, if it is a reality in that part of the country, then this surely warrants further investigation,” she said.

“This is shocking. This is really unbelivable. I mean, the Ampatuan town massacre is already unbelievable. What [Abdul] is revealing is like a movie,” de Lima added.

Despite numerous attempts by ABS-CBN News to get the Ampatuan family’s side on the matter through texts, calls and visits to the family’s offices, the Ampatuans had not given comment when this story was aired on TV Patrol on Wednesday and when this report was published on abs-cbnNEWS.com. — Report by Anthony Taberna, ABS-CBN News.