Mangudadatu allegedly offered P150M bribe to drop charges

Thursday, 16 December 2010 15:00 Fidelis Angela Tan

Maguindanao governor Esmael Mangudadatu has said that an emissary from the Ampatuan family offered him close to P150 million pesos to drop charges against suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan, one of those connected to the Maguindanao Massacre.

Mangudadatu’s wife and two sisters were part of the convoy who had been on the way to file his certificate of candidacy for this year’s national elections when it was attacked by armed men. There were reportedly 58 people killed; however, only 57 bodies were found.

Several members of the Ampatuan family, the Mangudadatus’ political rivals, are currently being held as the suspected masterminds.

Mangudadatu let reporters to listen to a conversation he allegedly recorded on his cellphone, wherein he was supposedly approached by a former ward who "transferred" to the Ampatuan camp. In the recording, a man's voice can be heard offering P150 million for the charges against Zaldy to be dropped.

Another person, presumably Mangudadatu, can be heard jokingly telling the man that the price he is offering isn’t high enough.

“There’s more. The available money is more than enough,” the man replies.

According to Mangudadatu, the bribe offer showed that the Ampatuans “have enormous wealth and [that] they are still powerful.”

He told reporters that attempts by the Ampatuan family to reach him began back in November, with the emissary asking Mangudadatu if Zaldy's wife, Datu Hoffer town mayor Bai Bongbong Ampatuan, could pay a visit to Mangudadatu's mother who was sick with cancer.

Mangudadatu refused to disclose his mother’s location "for security reasons." He added that the emissary had gradually began offering money which Mangudadatu continually refused because he “wanted to get more information.”

There have been no comments so far from the Ampatuan camp about Mangadadatu's accusations.

Mangudadatu’s lawyer Nena Santos said that the bribery attempts were a sign that the Ampatuan family was "desperate." Mangudadatu would also be executing an affidavit as a party to the supposed conversations.

“That is no longer part of wire-tapping because he will be testifying," she added. Evidence gathered through wire-tapping is not admitted in court.

"That was his own recording,” she said. “That was him talking and he just recorded it. It's his possession."

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