Davao City lawyer likens Ampatuans to crucified Christ

Slams media for unfair reporting

By ROGER M. BALANZA

A Davao City lawyer counseling for the Ampatuans has likened Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and the rest of the Ampatuans to Jesus Christ, “nailed on the cross without due process.”

For this idiotic and blasphemous remark, lawyer Philip Pantojan was “crucified “ by irate Dabawenyos in phone-in comments on ABC/CBN’s DXAB morning program Banat as soon as his statement was aired.

Andal Jr. is facing 41 counts of murder for the slaughter of 57 people, including 31 journalists, on November 23, 2009 in Maguindanao where his Muslim clan holds power.

His father, Andal Ampatuan Jr., former Maguindanao governor, and brother Zaldy Ampatuan, governor of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and several other relatives have been linked to the killing.

Andal Jr. is said to have led about 100 militiamen serving as army of the politically-powerful clan in the worst politically-motivated mass murder. The victims were aboard a convoy of vehicles to file the certificate of candidacy for governor of Buluan vice mayor Esmael Mangudadato, a political rival of the Ampatuans, when they were stopped and massacred and their bodies buried in a mass grave hurriedly dug up by an excavator.

Pantojan, is one of a battery of 80 lawyers reportedly hired by the Ampatuans, who are also facing rebellion charges.

From the start, my clients have been nailed on the cross without due process, Pantojan told DXAB reporter James Galay Wednesday night as Pantojan tried to prevent military and police from implementing a search warrant in an Ampatuan house in Dona Luisa Village, one of a dozen expensive residences built here by the Ampatuans of Maguindanao.

Galay played up the audio tape in a report on the Banat program hosted by Allan Abais on Thursday and sparked a flood of telephone calls from listeners lambasting the Davao City lawyer for his “idiotic and blasphemous remarks.”

Majority of the irate callers and text message senders, accused Pantojan of selling his profession for millions of pesos to defend the “killers.”

In the Wednesday interview by Galay, Pantojan also minced no words in lashing at media for allegedly “unfair reporting” against the Ampatuans since the November 23 massacre.