Opulence.
That is how most accounts describe the lifestyle of the Ampatuans as exemplified by their fetish for big and expansive mansions in Manila and Mindanao. And these are the elected government officials of the country’s second poorest province.
I personally passed by these mansions in my recent trips to Davao while our friend from Ateneo de Davao explained how the father and the son seem to be engaged in a contest on who could the build the bigger and more luxurious mansion in such a short span of time. Apparently, the whole of Davao City including the old rich themselves are just in awe. The city has never seen big edifices like these and thus, it has become a common practice for locals to show these to their visiting friends.
And then there is another story of the grand daughter studying at an exclusive school in Manila.
I can still vividly remember the story told by my student when I was teaching at Taft Avenue on how Ampatuan Sr’s grand daughter would often brag about her allowance of P5,000 a day. On top of this daily allowance, the student also boasts of her sky-is-the-limit access to her family’s credit cards as well as reimbursements for her projects and other school-related expense.
I was told how often this student goes to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bangkok just to shop. Bringing with her her Filipino-Chinese boyfriend – who, I was told, could not carry all the shopping bags by himself so from time to time, she would ask some of her and his friends along. She did this at least twice a month.
Still, what is striking – or depressing – for me is at the end of the story, the student telling the story quipped: “Siguro ang saya maging kaibagan nya no?” (It would be fun to be in that student’s circle of friends). And the other students listening agreed.
And to that I remarked: I would not dream of being friends with these kinds of people. All her friends should be ashamed and embarrassed just to be associated with such a person and family.
And so, as the story of the Ampatuans is laid bare before us, we must pause and reflect on the simple truth: That we are part of the society that somehow created them. A society engrossed with material wealth and attracted to those with power and authority.
And yet, we still ask ourselves everyday: How did we end up this way?
Most people would say we should blame the Ampatuans and the Arroyos and the Marcoses. I say, yes, we can do that. Or we can also blame ourselves as part of a complicit society that allow people like them to reign and rule.
If you do not agree with me maybe you should ask my former student from a college along Katipunan Avenue who is endlessly envious of her friend being romantically pursued by the grandson of Mr. Chavit Singson.
Inquirer Headlines / Regions
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20091209-241051/Ampatuan-house-in-Davao-awes-agents-in-raid
Ampatuan house in Davao awes agents in raid
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: December 09, 2009
DAVAO CITY—Two feet-thick concrete fences and 15-inch thick walls. A lot area big enough for 20 upper middle-class homes, or 100 low-cost housing units, or 200 tanks.
National Bureau of Investigation agents and reporters gawked in awe at the enormity of the Ampatuan mansion in Juna Subdivision here, one of at least 13 that the clan owns in this city.
This one is owned by Zaldy Ampatuan, governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
To describe how huge the house was, a reporter said in jest that if food was being brought to one of the rooms upstairs, it would be spoiled by the time it reached its destination.
The opulence of the 2,000-square-meter structure, still under construction, came into full view as NBI agents on Saturday continued their search for evidence linking the Ampatuan clan to the mass murder of 57 people—30 journalists included—in a Maguindanao town that was named after them simply because the clan ran the province like a small kingdom.
The search took two hours. While it didn’t yield firearms or any piece of evidence, it unveiled just how the Ampatuans had been living the lifestyle of the rich and, in the clan’s case, infamous.
An agent, seeing the house for the first time, couldn’t help but comment on how inordinately rich the Ampatuans were: “Grabeng yaman naman ng mga ito.”
Although still under construction, signs of just how grandiose the house was screamed for attention beyond its white, pale yellow and mocha paint—shiny marble floors, fences as tall as two men standing on top of each other, a dressing room that is about the size of a bachelor’s pad, 22 air-conditioning machines that have not been installed, a 20-by-30-feet swimming pool shaped like the number 8.
The main room in the house is 300 square meters, big enough to build a small house on.
The main house is surrounded by what looked like servants’ quarters but could pass for first-class two-story apartment units. At the back are nipa huts that aren’t out of the ordinary except for the air-conditioners that jut out of them.
Juna Subdivision, where lots go for P7,500 per square meter, is no stranger to displays of opulence. It is known here as an enclave of the so-called old rich of Davao. But the Ampatuan mansion stands out.
“You will be overwhelmed,” said one reporter who covered the NBI raid on the house.
The one under construction sits on lot next to an existing mansion of the Ampatuans, owned by Andal Ampatuan Sr., on Kasuy Street in Juna Subdivision. It also sits on a 2,000-square-meter lot. Another house, smaller by the standards of the Ampatuans, is across the street and serves as living quarters for bodyguards and drivers.
The clan seems to have a fetish for houses. They have another in Marfori Subdivision, also an exclusive enclave, that also sits on a 2,000-square-meter lot. Another is in Nova Tiera Village, also an exclusive enclave.
These were raided and, while members of the raiding team failed to seize any gun or piece of evidence on the mass murder, they came out of the operations awed at how one clan could amass so much wealth from so poor a province as Maguindanao. Jeffrey M. Tupas and Dennis Jay Santos, Inquirer Mindanao.
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That leaves me awestruck!