Ampatuan was a vice mayor when
President Ferdinand Marcos appointed him as mayor and officer-in-charge of Maganoy (now
Shariff Aguak). When
Corazon Aquino came into power via the 1986 EDSA
People Power Revolution, she replaced every locally elected official with officers-in-charge. Ampatuan Sr. was replaced by another Ampatuan, Datu Modi who served for two years in that capacity. After the
1988 local election, Andal Ampatuan Sr. served for ten years as mayor. In the
2001 elections, Andal Sr. was elected as governor. In 2001, the Ampatuan clan solidified its hold on power through a close friendship with
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when she assumed the presidency following the
Second EDSA Revolution. During the 2004 presidential elections, Arroyo dominated the polls in Shariff Aguak and most of
Maguindanao. Amid speculation that cheating had occurred in
Maguindanao and other
Mindanao provinces, results were contested by Arroyo's main rival, popular actor
Fernando Poe Jr. The 2007 midterm elections for the Philippine Senate had Maguindanao in focus once more as it was the only province that returned a 12-0 win for Arroyo's Senate slate,
Team Unity. The
Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) was created on July 25, 1987, when President Aquino signed Executive Order No. 264 entitled "Providing for the Citizen Armed Force". In 2006, Arroyo issued Executive Order 546, allowing local officials and the police to deputize local militia to aid in the fight against insurgents. These are locally known as civilian volunteer organizations or CVOs. The Executive Order was issued shortly after an assassination attempt on Andal Ampatuan Sr. == Role in the Maguindanao massacre ==