ONE OF the prime suspects in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, Zaldy U. Ampatuan, was brought to a hospital last Monday due to heart ailment, a jail official said. “I can confirm that Zaldy Ampatuan was rushed to the hospital due to Cardio Vascular Disease Infarct Secondary to Cardiac Dysrhythmia,” Bureau of Jail Management and Penology spokesperson Xavier Solda said in a mobile phone message on Wednesday. “He is in a stable condition now,” he added. The location of the hospital in Metro Manila was not disclosed due to “safety reasons.” Mr. Ampatuan was governor of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao when 58 people were massacred in the town of Ampatuan, Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009. Among the victims were 32 media practitioners, and family members and supporters of a political rival of the Ampatuan clan. Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra in August said the trial for the Maguindanao massacre case was completed July 17 and submitted for resolution on Aug. 15. A decision is expected to be rendered before the 10th anniversary of the incident. Andal Ampatuan, Sr., father of Mr. Ampatuan and the alleged mastermind of the massacre, died of cancer on July 15, 2015. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR