More Ampatuans face raps, 13 witnesses of massacre with police

November 29, 2009

The Maguindanao massacre was planned in the presence of other well-known members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, making them liable to the crime, acting Justice Sec. Agnes Devanadera said Sunday. Meanwhile, the police announced also on Sunday that they have 13 witnesses so far. The Justice department also referred to a witness, but it was unclear whether that person was among the police witnesses.

Devanadera said, “We have a witness who can prove that before it happened, he was in a place where the Ampatuans were giving instructions [on how to carry out the massacre].”

She added that the witness account of the massacre has strengthened the effort of the prosecution to present an airtight case against Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay municipality. The mayor, who was allegedly present at during killings, is the principal suspect in the case.

Devanadera also cited that more than 20 affidavits of the complaining witnesses that were now with the government, along with the pictures and other pieces of evidence that all pointed to the Ampatuans, as the brains behind the massacre.

New witness, suspects

Devanadera said that the new witness, who was now in government custody, was to be presented by the prosecution when the trial begins.

The new witness, she added, would also be placed in the witness protection program, together with two others who purportedly were among the more than 100 armed men whom Mayor Ampatuan led in carrying out the grisly crime.

Zaldy Ampatuan, meanwhile, defended his jailed brother, saying that the law “presumes everyone to be innocent when charged with offenses unless proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”

Earlier on Friday, Devana-dera named eight other members of the Ampatuan family, who, along with Mayor Ampa-tuan, were placed on the Immigration bureau’s watch list to prevent them from leaving the country for the duration of the case.

The eight, led by the Ampatuan patriarch, Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. of Maguindanao province, were now also considered as suspects in the massacre and may also be arrested at any time. The other suspects included Gov. Zaldy Ampa-tuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM); as well as Nords Ampatuan, Akmad Ampatuan, Saudi Ampatuan Jr., Bahnarian Ampatuan, Sajid Islam Ampatuan and Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan Sr.

Devanadera explained, “They are now considered as suspects because their names have been mentioned in the affidavits [of more than 20] complaining witnesses. They are now under surveillance and would be invited for investigation.”

“We have shown the process with our first case,” she added, referring to Mayor Ampatuan. “The same thing will happen to the other suspects that have been identified.”

Mayor Ampatuan’s charges

The prosecution has found probable cause to charge Mayor Ampatuan with seven counts of murder.

The case was expected to be filed in Cotabato City on Tuesday. The complaint was originally scheduled to be filed on Friday but was moved because the date coincided with a Muslim holiday, Eid Al Adha (festival of the sacrifice of Allah).

The secretary said that additional charges would be filed against Mayor Ampatuan as the investigation progresses.

She added that the Justice department has a strong case against the mayor, backed up by several witnesses.

Based on the witness accounts, she added, it was established that Mayor Ampatuan was at the scene of the crime, contrary to his alibi that he was at his office in Datu Unsay.

Police has 13 witnesses

Also on Sunday, the Philippine National Police announced that it has 13 witnesses in custody who were expected to give statements about the massacre on November 23.

Besides the two police officers who earlier gave statements, 11 more witnesses had arrived from Cotabato to share with investigators what they saw, said Senior Supt. Erickson Velasquez, chief of the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection group-Criminal Investigation and Detection Division (CIDG-CIDD).

The two police officers, whose names were not disclosed, were among the first batch of officials relieved from their posts in connection with the massacre.

“So far they [two police officers] are cooperating,” Velasquez said. “They are willing tell all they know that would help give justice to the victims.”

Last week, four policemen were relieved and were brought to the police headquarters at Camp Crame—Senior Supt. Agusana Maguid, Maguindanao police chief; Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay, deputy police chief; Senior Inspector, Ariel Diongson, group director 1508th Provincial Mobile Group; and Senior Police Officer 2 Badawi Bakal, officer in charge of the Datu Ampatuan town Police Station.

Maguid was relieved because of command responsibility, while Dicay, Diongson and Bakal were relieved after witnesses placed them at the crime scene.

Besides the four, the police relieved its officials in Maguin-danao—chief of the Autonomous Region inMuslim Mindanao, Chief Supt. Paisal Umpa; Inspector Armando Mariga, group director of the 1506th Police Mobile Group; and Inspector Saudi Mokamad, director of the 1507th Police Mobile Group.

Police probe

Velasquez said he believed that the 11 of the new witnesses who had just arrived in Manila could provide vital information. He added that most of them claim to have known about the massacre before it happened.

But Velasquez said they were looking at the probable brains of the crime, based on the names mentioned by some of the witnesses.

Meanwhile, the police said they were still searching for the operator of the backhoe—a certain Efren Macanas or Hamid Delauden, a native of Sultan Kudarat—that was used to burry the massacre victims. The driver has been missing since the murders.

Police added that they believe Macanas could provide important information to the investigation, including the identity of the mastermind.

President’s order

Meanwhile, President Gloria Arroyo ordered a government task force to step up its efforts in solving political violence and media killings.

In a radio interview aired over a state-run radio also on Sunday, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said that
the President was serious in solving the Maguindanao massacre.

“In this connection, we have ordered the Task Force 211 headed by Justice Undersecretary Ric Blancaflor to step up its operations in order to solve the cases of political violence or violence against journalists,” he said.

Task Force 211, also known as Task Force Against Political Violence, is a new government body assigned to address the issues of political violence and extrajudicial killings.

The President created the task force by issuing Administrative Order 211 two years ago to address political and media killings in the country.

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