Lawyer: Arroyo drops Ampatuans like hot potato

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

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DAVAO CITY—A lawyer of the powerful Ampatuans has come out swinging against the woman who, he said, the clan helped make President.

Philip Pantojan said Malacañang dropped the Ampatuans like a hot potato—and even backed the filing of rebellion charges against them despite the purported lack of evidence—in an effort to save face.

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Pantojan said the Ampatuans were surprised that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration turned its back on them despite the purported benefits it had received from the clan.

“The government is like Cinderella or Snow White … [It wants to] live happily ever after,” he said.

Pantojan said Malacañang had forgotten that the influence of the clan led by Andal Ampatuan Sr. helped make “Gloria” President in 2004.

He pointed out that the Ampatuans’ home province of Maguindanao produced a zero vote for actor Fernando Poe Jr., the opposition standard-bearer, in that year’s presidential election.

“The Ampatuans truly helped the First Family in so many instances and forms in the past,” Pantojan told reporters at Grand Menseng Hotel.

The lawyer said the Arroyo administration was distancing itself from the Ampatuans in view of the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 civilians, mostly journalists, in Maguindanao.

Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay town, is the primary suspect in the massacre. He has been charged with 41 counts of murder and is being held at the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Manila.
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Did they just confirm they help GMA cheat in the elections?

Read the full article at the Philippine Daily Inquirer.