Andal Ampatuan Sr., the instigator of the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre, passed away last Friday due to several complications. Last month, he was brought to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Manila from a maximum security prison because of liver problems. It was then discovered that he was already suffering from liver cancer. He had a heart attack on July 13 and had been in a coma since. He was declared dead at 10:02 p.m. on Friday. Ampatuan was 74-years-old, according to ABS-CBN News.
Ferdinand Topacio, his lawyer, said that Ampatuan was still responsive last week. The lawyer was told by the relatives that Ampatuan was able still able to consume milk on Thursday. He said that the former Maguindanao governor was still able to respond to his relatives and even to his lawyers. Topacio said that he was still able to kick as a form of response whenever he heard people, GMA News reported.
Ampatuan was the head of the Ampatuan family dynasty that ruled over the poor and violent province of Maguindanao in Mindanao, Philippines. He was still on trial during his death for orchestrating a massacre in November 2009 killing 58 people. Those who died were relatives of the opposing gubernatorial candidate, Esmael Mangudadatu, on their way to support his filing of candidacy. Thirty-one journalists who were there to cover the event were also slaughtered making this one of the most devastating cases for journalists all over the world. Some who were murdered at close range were two pregnant women, Mangudadatu's aunt and sister, according to the New York Times.
Following Islamic rites, Ampatuan's corpse was flown to Cotabato City on Saturday morning and was buried in his hometown in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao in the afternoon, ABS-CBN News reported.
