Opposition Sen. Benigno Simeon ‘’Noynoy Aquino III, presidential candidate of the Liberal Party (LP), and Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago joined Friday calls by their colleagues in the Senate for the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Office of the Ombudsman to conduct an immediate and impartial investigation into the apparent ill-gotten wealth by the Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao.

Since Maguindanao has been placed under martial law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Santiago said the military administrator should sequester the properties of the Ampatuans.

‘’The Ampatuans lived like royalty. They have adopted the lifestyle of the right and the famous,’’ Santiago said, adding that portions of the budget of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) could have gone to the pockets of the Ampatuans.

Aquino said such ill-gotten wealth ‘’is a stark example of the corruption that has eroded our democracy, and the fruits of this administration’s efforts to deceive our people of its legitimacy.’’

He thus joined Senators Manuel ‘’Mar’’ A. Roxas II and Panfilo Lacson in asking a no-nonsense probe into the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Ampatuans whose possession of mansions in Maguindanao, Davao City, Makati and Quezon City was revealed following the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 persons in Maguindanao.

The military contingent in Maguindanao, placed under martial law by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo last weekend, has uncovered arms caches in or near the properties of the Ampautuans in Maguindanao, enough to arm two military battalions.

It also uncovered many expensive utility vehicles.

Lacson said the government should sequester the mansions of the Ampatuans and have their assets frozen for future seizure.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. earlier asked aloud whether the P9 billion budget of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) last year had gone to somebody’s pocket as Maguindanao is one of the poorest provinces in the country.

An official of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) yesterday said that the Office of the Ombudsman is the agency authorized to sequester the alleged loot of the Ampatuan clan and not the commission formed by the late President Corazon Aquino in 1986 to go after the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the family and cronies of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede said the Office of the Ombudsman is the agency authorized to sequester the assets as well as to conduct lifestyle checks among government officials.

“It is very clear in Executive Order no. 1 issued by President Aquino in 1986 that PCGG only covers the Marcoses and their cronies' ill-gotten wealth,” Abcede said.

Despite the unstable situation in Mindanao, more than 200 foreign delegates involved in peace-building around the world are set to visit conflict affected areas in the region to make an assessment on the real situation there and possibly be ambassadors of goodwill for Mindanao when they go back to their respective countries.

Paul Murray, spokesperson of the Global Peace Convention now being held at the historic landmark Manila Hotel, said that they will hold a fact-finding tour in Lanao del Norte where international peace advocates would see for themselves the situation in that region.

“Whenever there is conflict, what we usually do is we look at the community level and we don't focus much on the conflict, may it be political or religious. Our goal is really to engage the communities to talk to the government and find solutions,” Murray said.

Former Ambassador and Justice Undersecretary Macabangkit B. Lanto asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Friday to hold the coming election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on April 10, 2010, a month earlier than the May 10, 2010 polls nationwide, to test the first ever automated election system in the country under domestic settings and provide a golden opportunity to prove that the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines will live up to its promise of protecting the people’s votes.

In a 14-page petition which he filed with Atty. Benjamin B. Lanto, Ambassador Lanto said whatever doubts as to the workability of the automated election system will be settled and answered by the result of the advance election in the ARMM to the benefit of holding free, orderly, honest, peaceful and credible elections on May 10, 2010 as mandated by law.