By Anthony Vargas
DateLine Philippines

MANILA–Former Defense secretary and administration presidential bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. dissuaded Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu from running against the Ampatuans, more than a month before the brutal November 23 mass slaying in Ampatuan, Maguindanao of 57 persons, including Mangudadatu’s wife and sister, and 31 journalists.

At the resumption of the bail hearing for Ampatuan massacre principal suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr., the Buluan vice mayor took to the witness stand and said that last year, Teodoro, as well as several leading members of the Lakas-Kampi, warned him about his plan to run against Ampatuan in the coming May polls.

Mangudadato said that aside from Teodoro, then presidential adviser for political affairs Gabriel Claudio and former congressman Prospero Pichay also approached him.

“He (Pichay) asked me if I was running and I said ‘Yes.’ He then asked if I was sure about my decision,” Mangudadatu said, adding that he again answered in the affirmative.

He added that Pichay then told him “to take care since the Ampatuans are violent people.”

Mangudadatu related that the former Defense secretary issued the same warning when they met at a restaurant in Manila on October 10 last year.

“He (Teodoro) asked me if I was running, and I said, yes,” Mangudadatu said. And like Pichay, Teodoro also told him not to run, he added.

“I love you very much Toto. These people are violent,” Mangudadatu quoted Teodoro as telling him, referring to the Ampatuans as those who are violent.

Mangudadatu told the court that last year, on August 11, he met with the Ampatuans in Malacañang to settle the issue.

“I was invited in Malacañang to have dinner with the Ampatuans,” Mangudadatu said. He did not say if the President was present during the meeting.

The Buluan vice-mayor added that as early as July last year, he and his relatives were invited by Claudio to have a meeting with Teodoro.

Mangudadatu said that also at that meeting were the Ampatuans led by Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., ARMM governor, Zaldy Ampatuan, Sajid Ampatuan, Saudi Ampatuan and Congressman Simeon Datumanong.

The meeting with Claudio and Teodoro, Mangudadatu said, was likewise meant to settle the issue.

Mangudadatu said that his brother requested the replacement of Maguindanao chief of police Sukarno Dikay and Col. Medardo Geslani, head of the 601st Infantry Batallion.

Mangudadatu said Teodoro assured him that this would be looked into, but added that nothing had happened to their request.

The Buluan vice-mayor said the elder Ampatuan had promised him that he would be made governor of the proposed province of Rajah Buayan.

But, the plan did not push through after Rajah Buayan, one of the towns of Maguindanao, did not meet the population requirement needed to become a province.

“They are afraid that if I ran for governor, they will lose,” Mangudadatu said.

Mangudadatu narrated that he then asked the elder Ampatuan if his family could be given control of two municipalities in the province to which the elder Ampatuan agreed.

However, when Mangudadatu asked that his brother Freddie be made vice governor of the province, the elder Ampatuan said no, stating that he has another son to fill-up that post.

When the Mangudadatus refused to back down, the Maguindanao Provincial Board passed a resolution disqualifying Freddie Mangudadatu for lack of education.

Mangudadatu said his family was later forced by the Ampatuans to sign the resolution and give up on their bid to secure the vice governorship of Maguindanao.

Sigfrid Fortun, counsel for Ampatuan Jr., asked the court to defer his cross examination of Mangudadatu until the next hearing on Wednesday.