The patriarch's mansion. MindaNews photo courtesy of Jes Aznar

Within their respective compounds are a “satellite office” or “sub office” of their respective capitols – even as the elder Ampatuan’s provincial capitol is only 400 meters away and the younger one’s is 53 kilometers (he had vowed to spend more time in his supposed base in Cotabato City but is rarely seen there).

ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan's mansion, across the road from his father's. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo

Malacanang is aware of these “sub-offices” – offices with all the amenities but within the compound of  the mansions -- but an official from the Office of the President who was asked by MindaNews a few years ago could not answer the questions: “Who paid for the construction of the sub-offices? Who’s paying for its upkeep? The Ampatuans or government? What if they’re no longer governor?  Would the building and the land on which the ‘sub-offices’ are built be carved out of their compounds and turned over to government?”

But it is not only in Shariff Aguak where the Ampatuans have other mansions.

On an otherwise quiet stretch along Calamansi St. in Juna Subdivision, Davao City,  residents started selling their houses some two years ago, with the arrival of a new neighbor who came in a convoy of black luxury vehicles, escorted by heavily armed men, sometimes led by a police vehicle.

One by one, the houses nearest what would turn out to be a mansion whose high fence alone would cost millions of pesos, started displaying “for sale” signs on their front yard.

As neighbors sold their property, the richest clan from this country’s second poorest province, bought and the mansion expanded.

But on another side of the street,  an even bigger mansion is being constructed along Lot 01, Block 30, corner Cesario-Kasuy Sts., making the huge  Calamansi St. mansion look like a “servants’ quarters.”

The still unfinished Davao City mansion of the patriarch's first wife. Note gun port on each post. MindaNews photo by Carolyn O. Arguillas

The mansion under construction has a new feature, at least on one side: its high fence has a gun port on each post.

Floor area for 150 low-cost houses

The mansion, according to the entry in Building Permit 08072886 applied for on June 25, 2008 and issued on July 2, 2008 in Davao City,  will have two floors. The mansion’s floor area, according to the permit, is 2,705 square meters.

That floor area is equivalent to 150.2 houses under the government’s socialized housing program’s 18 square meters each.

The residential building, estimated to cost P28.2 million (P28,200,653.10) and expected to be completed by February 2009 (it is not yet finished as of December 2009) is owned, according to the building permit by Hadja Bai Laila Uy Ampatuan of  Poblacion Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao.

Hadja Bai Laila is the first wife of Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr., governor of Maguindanao. In Ampatuan’s 2001, 2002 and 2003, she was described as “housewife” but in 2007, she was declared as “busineswoman.”

Net worth

Ampatuan Sr.’s net worth based on his statement of assets and liabilities filed as of yearend 2007 is P18.5 million, almost twice his net worth in 2001 (P9.4 M), his first year as Maguindanao governor.

According to his SALN 2007, Ampatuan’s annual gross salary (defined as “all amounts received by declarant from government service”) is P597,919.00  (or a monthly income of  almost P50,000 a month as governor), while his annual gross family income (the income of the declarant, his spouse and children under 18 living with them) is P2.7 M (P2,713,016.50).

Unlike other politicians, the Ampatuan patriarch and his sons in politics, file their SALN as required by law, every year.

As with all politicians, however, whether or not all their assets, liabilities and net worth are listed, needs to be verified. As with most politicians, there are no specifics as to the location and size of the land they claim to own.

In 2001, Ampatuan declared a net worth of P9.4 M;  in 2002, it went up to P11.2 M; in 2003, it rose to P11.7 M.

MindaNews was unable to get copies of Ampatuan’s SALN for 2004, 2005 and 2008 (he had resigned as governor late that year and MindaNews was unable to include Ampatuan’s SALN 2008 in its September 2009 request for SALNs of Mindanao governors).  But in 2007, his net worth had risen to P18.5 M.

Assets

In 2001, he declared under assets, farmlots in Shariff Aguak worth nearly a million pesos which he “inherited/purchased;” residential lots in Shariff Aguak  he “inherited at P587,000; a house and lot in Shariff Aguak which was “inherited/constructed” in 1980 worth 2.1 M; and a house and lot in Shariff Aguak in 2001 as “inherited/constructed” worth P2 M.

He declared as personal and other property “cash and accounts receivables,” furniture and fixture, working animals, farm equipment, a Nissan Patrol Safari obtained, a Suburban V8 bought in 2001 and a tractor bought in the same year.

In 2002, for real property, Ampatuan listed “house and lot – old” and “house and lot – new” both in Shariff Aguak with the old acquired in 1980 (“inherited/constructed”) and the new acquired “1994-present” (also “inherited constructed”) which he pegged at the current fair market value of P11 M. This is apparently the mansion near the provincial capitol, the one with the mosque.

There were no changes regarding vehicles in his SALN from 2001 to 2003. It was still “Nissan Patrol Safari, Suburban V8 and tractor.”

But in Ampatuan’s 2007 SALN, the three vehicles were no longer mentioned. Instead, he declared  two Ford  F150 vehicles, both purchased in 2002 for P1.95 M each. The Ford 150 vehicles acquired in 2002, were not declared in the 2002, 2003 SALN.

In 2007, he listed as real property the following: agri-land in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao described as “inheritance/purchased” 1985-07, worth P2.27 M; agri-land in Ampatuan, Maguindanao purchased in 2007, worth P1.8 M; residential lots in Shariff Aguak, acquired in 1995 as “inheritance” worth P587,000; house and lot old in Shariff Aguak, described as “inheritance/constructed) in 1980 at P2.7 M; house and lot new in Shariff Aguak, described as “inheritance/constructed” in 1994-2005, worth P12 M.

SUVs

The Ford 150 vehicles allegedly acquired in 2002 but declared in the SALN much later, have specialized plate numbers GUV111 and GOB111. (These two vehicles are in the garage of  the Ampatuan Sr.’s mansion, along with at least 16 other vehicles – among them a Land Rover Defender  and Isuzu D-Max – not declared in his SALN 2007. In the alleged Ampatuan warehouse near the provincial jail, there are two bullet-proof SUVs with plate numbers GOV888 and GOV88; a pink bus cum motor home; and at least 21 trucks, tractors and other farm equipment not declared also in the 2007 SALN, if at all these were all his).  

Ampatuan’s son, Datu Zaldy Ampatuan, who has been serving as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao since 2005, declared a net worth of P13.93 M as of yearend 2005; P14.94 M as of yearend 2006 and P16.41M as of yearend 2007.  

As with other chief executives, the governor’s net worth is not clearly specified for yearend 2008, when SALN forms were changed, allowing officials to choose the box most appropriate, e.g. “no acquisition and no disposal of real properties pertaining to me/my spouse/my children below 18 years of age….”  etc.

But the ARMM governor in his 2008 SALN, declared an annual gross income  of P835,563.30 for himself (around P69,630 a month) and P138,590 for his wife, Bongbong Midtimbang-Ampatuan, as community affairs assistant of Shariff Aguak town.  His wife was recently appointed as acting mayor of the newly-created Datu Hofer town, named after an Ampatuan son  who was killed a few years ago.

The ARMM governor declared an annual gross family income of  P3.2 M (P3,238,198.30).

As of yearend 2005, he declared four items under real property: farmlots in Shariff Aguak acquired in 1997 as an inheritance and assessed at P4 M; residential lots and houses in Cotabato City also acquired in 1997 and assessed at 3.9 M, residential lots and houses in Shariff Aguak acquired in 2004 as “inheritance/purchased,” and assessed at P2.9 M; and residential lots and houses in Davao City acquired in 2000 as “constructed/purchased) with exactly the same assessment as the lots and houses acquired in 2004 in Shariff Aguak (P2,925,085.05 million).

In his 2006 SALN, the entries under real property remain the same but the acquisition year for Shariff Aguak lots and houses had become 1993 instead of 2004 and are now described as “inherited/constructed.”

In his 2007 SALN, the entries under real property had one new entry: residential lots and house in Davao City, acquired in 2007 with an assessed value at P2 M. Three vehicles were listed: a Toyota Hilux with plate number LFN 612 purchased in Davao City in 2005 for P1.35 M; another Toyota Hilux with plate number LFJ 609  purchased in Davao City in 2006 for P1.35 M and a Mitsubishi Pajero  with plate number DZN 168 purchased in Davao City in 2006 for P2.8 M.

Ampatuan Sr. ran for a third term as governor in 2007 with his youngest son, Datu Sajid Islam Uy Ampatuan as vice governor.

Richer?

Sajid’s 2006 SALN showed he has an even higher net worth, at P18.9 Mas of end of 2006.  The ARMM Governor’s net worth as of 2006 was P14.94 M.

Under real property, Sajid listed farm lots in Shariff Aguak acquired in 1995 as an inheritance; house and lot in Shariff Aguak acquired in 2003 as an inheritance; a residential lot worth P2.2 million purchased in Davao City in 2002; a residential lot in Cotabato City in 1994 worth P4.2 million which he claimed to have inherited and farm lots again in Shariff Aguak which he inherited in 1993.

Sajid  was named by the ARMM Governor as acting governor of  what they were then referring to as “New Maguindanao” (Maguindanao plus the Shariff Kabunsuan towns) when Ampatuan Sr. resigned in late 2008 or early 2009 following the Supreme Court ruling declaring unconstitutional the creation of Shariff Kabunsuan province. Several towns of Maguindanao were earlier carved out to create the new province.

Ampatuan Sr., reasoned out he had no mandate as governor from the constituents of  Shariff Kabunsuan.                                       

It is not clear when Ampatuan Sr. was reappointed as governor. MindaNews sought clarification from ARMM Solicitor-General Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi as to the exact date when Ampatuan was reappointed. Sayadi refered MindaNews to Maguindanao provincial administrator Norie Unas even as it is the ARMM Governor who has the power to appoint.

ARMM Governor Ampatuan had told reporters in a press conference following his State of the Nation Address on November 9  that the Maguindanao governor is “none other than my beloved father, Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr.”

A source close to the Ampatuans explained to MindaNews that the patriarch decided to take over the governorship of Maguindanao after Andal Ampatuan Jr., who reportedly wanted to take over as governor,  threatened to kill then acting governor, Sajid. The source said Ampatuan Jr. was also the reason why Unas, who is like family to the Ampatuans and is highly trusted by the patriarch, took a leave of absence until the Ampatuan Massacre of November 23 brought him back to Maguindanao from Manila.

The principal suspect in the massacre is Ampatuan, Jr. who intended to run for Maguindanao governor against Esmael Mangudadatu, the vice mayor of Buluan.

Mangudadatu sent his wife and other female relatives, two female lawyers and 31 journalists to the provincial office of the Commission on Elections in Maguindanao morning of November 23. The convoy did not reach its destination.  It was stopped at the highway in Ampatuan town and at gunpoint brought to Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman where the convoy members were killed.

Ampatuan Sr., has nine surviving children with his first wife Hadja Bai Laila Uy, among them Datu Zaldy, Datu Andal Jr. and Datu Sajid Islam.

Rebecca Ampatuan-Ampatuan, the eldest child of Ampatuan Sr. and Uy, said her father has around six wives. She said there are about 40 Ampatuan children.

Rebecca defended her father’s and siblings’ wealth. In Pilipino, she told reporters Thursday afternoon, “we have vast landholdings – we have ricelands, coconut lands, cornlands.” (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

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