Attacks on Ampatuan home politically motivated, says daughter

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao -A series ofgunfire followed by two grenade launcher attackshit the compound of suspended Shariff Aguak Mayor Bai Zahara Ampatuan Thursday night, officials said.Officer-in-Charge Vice Mayor Bai Anhara Ampatuan, the first councilor who became acting vice mayor by law of succession after her mother went on leave, said she heard a series of gun fire near her homeabout 9 p.m.It was followed by grenade explosions. Nobody was hurt in the attack whichoccurred in the middle of power outage in Shariff Aguak and nearby areas.Ampatuan said this was the third time that the family's home was subjected to attacks. The motive is politically motivated,” she said. Lately, not only my mom but including me have received death threats, the text messages said they will get me inside our home or at the Sangguiang Bayan session hall, said the 24-year-old young legislator.She did not name names but added it was pat of the political package that you have to experience if you are in Maguindanao. Her mother, Bai Zahara Upam Ampatuan, has gone absence without official leave after she was linked to the killing of a Sangguiang Bayan worker.The family vehemently denied and insisted it was part of political ploy to oust her.In a phone interview,Bai Zahara said only time can tell about the truth.She is saddened the township she is serving has been violent this lately despite her efforts to make it peaceful to everyone.Last Tuesday, another kin of the Ampatuans, former Datu Salibo Mayor Akmad Ampatuan was ambushed in the boundary of Talayan and Guindulungan town while on their way to Shariff Aguak. He was wounded along with his two companions.Maguindanao police office has not issued statement whether the two incidents were related.Akmad Ampatuan’s son, Vice MayorMaropth is the now the OICmayor of Shafiff Aguak town.Akmad is nephew of former Maguindanao kingpin Andal Ampatuan Sr. who was the principal suspect in the Maguindanao Massacre that left 58 people in 2009, while Sahara is the daughter-in-Law of Andal Sr.