Haunted by suspicions on his family’s role in the Maguindanao massacre, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Zaldy Uy Ampatuan has vowed to resist a government-planned suspension of ARMM officials including him, saying it would entail first a long legal battle up to the Supreme Court.

On the other hand, the rival clan led by Buluan Vice Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Ismael “Toto” Mangodadatu said he favors a declaration of Martial Law in Maguindanao in order to neutralize “so many private armies terrorizing the people.”

“Many politicians are followed not because they are loved but because they are feared (due to their private armies)," said Mangodadatu, who organized the team of mostly female relatives, two lawyers and 30 journalists on a six-car convoy that were all slain in the November 23 carnage.

Ampatuan bared his clan’s counter legal move on Sunday at a time the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) posted in its website (luwaran) a statement urging the Arroyo regime “not to engage in collective punishment in ARMM as a result of the barbaric massacre of 57 people” on November 23.

Khaled Musa, deputy chair of the MILF information committee, reacted to the empowerment by President Arroyo of DILG Sec. Ronaldo Puno to supervise ARMM, suspend officials thereof and appoint the replacements.

While the MILF and local legal luminaries welcome the declaration of a state of emergency in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City, they said extra powers could not be “collectively” applied all-over ARMM.

Besides Maguindanao, ARMM covers Marawi City and Lanao del Sur, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, whose elective representatives to the regional government have “nothing to do” with the massacre.

In the event of a warranted suspension of ARMM Gov. Ampatuan, regional vice governor Ansaruddin Adiong, who is concurrent regional DILG secretary, of Lanao Sur is rightful heir under the law of succession, local lawyers said.

President Arroyo has earlier given Sec. Puno blanket authority to supervise the ARMM with powers to suspend officials linked to the massacre and appoint the replacements of his choice.

Puno clarified that the ARMM government functions will proceed unimpeded during his supervisory administration.

But Ampatuan told some 3,000 followers gathered in Shariff Aguak Sunday that his family has hired 40 lawyers to defend him and other elected family members not only from indictments in the mass killing but also from possible preventive suspension.

The 40 lawyers would be led by Sigfrid Fortun, the lead counsel of his younger brother Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. who has been detained in Manila and facing murder raps as main suspect in the massacre.

Among the 57 fatalities in the massacre were Vice Mayor Mangudadatu’s wife Ginalyn, two sisters and other kin alongside his two female lawyers and 30 journalists who were on mission to file his certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governor at the local Comelec office in Shariff Aguak.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan on Tuesday called on the national government to speed up the investigation in order to give justice to the 57 victims including 30 newsmen of the Maguindanao massacre last November 23.

Ampatuan, said that justice in the Maguindanao mayhem must prevail soonest possible time in order to give justice to the victims of the carnage.

“Justice in the Maguindanao mayhem must prevail. In this regard, and when the rule of law points to the guilty ones, then let the acts of punishment fall on them. There is no sweeter condemnation than this to those deserving to be punished for the gruesome acts done,” Ampatuan said.

The ARMM governor also appealed to the public and the media to be fair, noting that “everybody must also respect the constitutional process.”

“I appeal to the public for sobriety and to the media for fair and just reporting. I also appeal to some politicians not to add fire to the already volatile situation in Maguindanao,” he said.

The ARMM governor is the elder brother of Maguindanao massacre principal suspect Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr.

Ampatuan also admitted that he and his family were hurt upon learning of their expulsion from the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD party, because of the Maguindanao massacre.

Ampatuan, his brother Andal Jr., and their father Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan, Sr., were expelled from the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD party as recommended by Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential aspirant Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro.

Andal Jr. was arrested after being tagged as the primary suspect in the massacre, by several witnesses, and is now detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila.

Most elected political officials in the ARMM said that Ampatuan, who is serving as ARMM governor for many years now continues to uphold the law of our country’s criminal system even if his family is under siege for alleged involvement in the Maguindanao massacre.

Adding that even the ARMM governor is also seeking justice, not because of the accusations against his family but because of his solemn duty to uphold the laws and the constitution to the best of his ability as the governor of ARMM.

The same group also defended Ampatuan saying that the ARMM governor together with some Sulu political leaders were in Manila on November 23, the day the massacre took place, to meet with President Arroyo at Malacañang, which was also admitted by Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Secretary Gabriel Claudio. (With a report from Nonoy E. Lacson)