Ampatuans booted out of Lakas-Kampi-CMD

Thursday, 26 November 2009 10:27 AM Fidelis Angela Tan

Three members of the Ampatuan clan who are all suspected of involvement in the massacre at Maguindanao have been ousted from the administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

Following calls from party standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro, Jr. to relieve them of their positions, Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his two sons, Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Zaldy Ampatuan and Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. were booted out of the party.

Ampatuan Sr. had been acting as the provincial chair of Lakas-Kampi-CMD while Zaldy Ampatuan was the regional chair.

“The Ampatuans were stripped of party membership for their failure to uphold party ideals and principles in their area of jurisdiction, specifically relating to the peaceful, legal and democratic pursuit and exercise of political power,” said party president and Sarangani Governor Miguel Dominguez. He added that the decision by the executive committee to expel the Ampatuans was unanimous.

“This is a way to discipline the erring party members. What happened in Maguindanao was something nobody can really stomach,” he said.

In a visit to Buluan, the site of the massacre, Teodoro strongly urged the government to arrest the Ampatuans and the others involved in the atrocity.

“The government should take an unequivocal and strong action against the perpetrators of this dastardly crime,” he said. “There’s no justification or no idea whatsoever can I come up with or comprehend what makes a person do these things.”

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