Zaldy Ampatuan, one of the accused in the gruesome Maguindanao massacre that took place on November 2009 was rushed to the hospital on Monday.
Bureau of Jail Management and Penology spokesperson Xavier Solda confirmed Zaldy Ampatuan was hospitalized at around 3 am, October 21.
“I can confirm that Zaldy Ampatuan was rushed to the hospital last Monday at around 3:30 pm due to Cardio Vascular Disease [Infarction] Secondary to [Cardiac] Dysrythmia,” Solda said.
“As per the last medical bulletin, he is in a stable condition now,” he added.
He also said Ampatuan was not yet discharged from the hospital.
Ampatuan was also brought to the Philippine Heart Center this year for treatment.
In September, the Supreme Court upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeals to overturn Ampatuan’s petition for bail.
Zaldy’s hospitalization occurred about a month before the 10th anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre.
The Ampatuan family and Maguindanao massacre
The Maguindanao massacre, also known as the Ampatuan massacre after the town where the mass graves were found, occurred on the morning of November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.
While the 58 victims were on their way to file a certificate of candidacy for Esmael Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan town, they were kidnapped and killed. Mangudadatu was challenging Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., son of the incumbent Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and member of one of Mindanao’s leading Muslim political clans, in the forthcoming Maguindanao gubernatorial election, part of the national elections in 2010. The people killed included Mangudadatu’s wife, his two sisters, journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were witnesses or were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called the Maguindanao massacre the single deadliest event for journalists in history. At least 34 journalists are known to have died in the massacre. Even before the Maguindanao massacre, the CPJ had labeled the Philippines the second most dangerous country for journalists, second only to Iraq.
Also read: Maguindanao Massacre digger operator points finger at Ampatuan clan