They were shamefully rich, immensely powerful, and by many accounts, virulent in their ways during their long rule in Maguindanao province and in the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
By court documents, the lifestyle check conducted by the Office of the Onbudsman, and testimonies of their own allies and subjects, this much is true: The Ampatuans and their associates had 597 bank accounts, 500 hectares of real property assets, 130 motor vehicles, 420 firearms, and a private army many hundreds strong.
Below is a playlist of PCIJ documentaries on the Ampatuan Massacre of Nov. 23, 2009, as well as on the Ampatuan clan, whose scions were found guilty in the murder of 58 persons, including 32 journalists and media workers.
The videos were produced by the PCIJ team led by Ed Lingao, then PCIJ multimedia director.
Research and reporting by Carolyn O. Arguillas, editor of MindaNews, other journalist-colleagues of PCIJ in Mindanao, assisted in great measure in the making of these videos.
Click on the links to watch the videos.
Watch:
ANGKAN, Inc., a PCIJ documentary on the clans of Maguindanao, 2012
ANGKAN, Inc. with subtitles, 2012
Maguindanao: The Quest for Justice, 2010
Maguindanao: Isang Taon Matapos ang Massacre
Freeze order on Ampatuan assets expires, December 2011
LIPAT-BAHAY. A PCIJ documentary on the wealth of the Ampatuans
The Ampatuan assets, a PCIJ documentary on the wealth of the Ampatuans, 2012
PCIJ on GMANewsTV: Maguindanao: Ampatuan Wealth
PCIJ. The sale of the Ampatuan assets, 2013
PCIJ. Ampatuan Massacre, 57th month, 2014
Ampatuan Massacre, 7 years later, 2016
13 years later, kin of Maguindanao massacre victims return to site of killings
This playlist was first compiled in December 2019.