Andal Ampatuan Sr. Passes Away

The suspected mastermind on the worst case of election-related violence in Philippine history, Andal Ampatuan Sr, died on Friday night according to his lawyer.

“It saddens me to inform the public that former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. has passed away just a few minutes ago,” lawyer Ferdinand Topacio told GMA News Online in an interview.

“Details regarding the death are sketchy at the moment,” Topacio added.

Ampatuan Sr. had been comatose since Monday after suffering a heart attack. He had been battling with advanced stage of liver cancer and was admitted at National Kidney and Transplant Institute at the time of his death.

He was 74 years old.

His Lawyer, Topacio said Ampatuan’s death “will be treated in accordance with Islamic custom.”

“The family is requesting for privacy in their moment of bereavement,” the lawyer added.

“The exact time and cause of his death will be announced by doctors of NKTI, Topacio added.

Bai Mayan Sinsuat, an in-law of the Ampatuan patriarch, also confirmed the death.

The former governor had been in the hospital for almost two months since complaining of abdominal pains while held in a maximum security jail in Manila.

The Ampatuans allegedly orchestrated the slaughter of 58 people in their area in November 2009, in an attempt to stop a rival clan’s election challenge

The murder trial of the elder Ampatuan and seven other clan members has moved excruciatingly slowly over the past five years.

Other members of Ampatuan clan are still in prison waiting for trial.

Topacio said that he cannot reveal the last words and dying wish of Ampatuan Sr. for privacy reasons.

/GMA News/ Carla Gamboa

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