11 witnesses to strengthen case vs massacre suspects

(Updated 9:31 p.m.) At least 11 new witnesses will come forward to bolster the government’s case against the people behind the grisly massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province last Nov. 23, with Malacañang stressing that the filing of multiple murder charges against prime suspect, Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay town, is “just the beginning" of efforts to get to the bottom of the carnage. "This is only the beginning," Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said on government-run dzRB radio. "All investigation will be conducted regardless of who are involved. Depending on the evidence gathered and warranted by law, charges will be filed and those concerned will be brought to the bars of justice." Senior Superintendent Ericson Velasquez on Sunday said the 11 are from Cotabato. He did not elaborate on their statements. "At least 11 witnesses will come and give their testimonies. We expect them to shed more light on the case. Our initial information is that they know something about the incident but I cannot say anything further," he said in an interview on dzBB radio. Velasquez, head to the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group’s Criminal Investigation Unit, said “more or less, what the new witnesses said corroborated with statements by those interviewed earlier." He hoped the new witnesses’ statements would be included in the charges to be filed before the Office of the State Prosecutor this Tuesday.
Maguindanao "stable" Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said the situation in Maguindanao is "stable" despite the massing up of supporters of former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., the patriarch of the feared Ampatuan clan. “Our commanders on the ground say the situation is stable. Supporters of the Ampatuan and Mangudadatu clans are gathering their supporters but we are on top of the situation," AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said in a separate dzBB interview. A GMA Flash Report said "hundreds" of people went to the Ampatuans' mansion in Shariff Aguak Sunday morning to show their support to the embattled political clan. The report said the followers believe that Andal Jr. was innocent of the accusations being hurled against him. Andal Jr. was arrested Thursday and detained for the massacre and may be charged this coming Tuesday. Andal Jr’s brother, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy Ampatuan, met their father in the mansion Sunday morning to to discuss possible legal strategies to counter the multiple murder charges the government would file against Andal Jr. Last Friday, Buluan vice mayor Ismael “Toto" Mangudadatu – accompanied by administration presidential aspirant Gilberto Teodoro Jr. – filed his certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governor at the provincial capitol in Shariff Aguak. Mangudadatu’s wife and two sisters, as well as supporters and several journalists, were killed last Monday while on their way to file his candidacy documents for his gubernatorial bid in next year’s elections. Brawner said Scout Ranger and Special Forces personnel, along with armored personnel carriers, have been deployed to the area to prevent further violence. According to him, checkpoints set up by the military had yielded several firearms, although he did not say if these belonged to the warring clans. He also discouraged both clans from initiating mass gatherings. All permits to carry firearms in the area have been revoked, and that authorities will file charges against violators, Brawner stressed. ‘Questionable suspensions’ Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., meanwhile, branded as "questionable" the preventive suspension of local government officials in Maguindanao because of the massacre. Pimentel, author of the 1991 Local Government Code, said the Office of the President caould only suspend governors and city mayors but not municipal mayors, which are under the governor. "We must do everything according to law, so those affected will not have basis to complain," he said in an interview on dzBB radio. "Sabihin natin questionable, not outright illegal (I am not saying the blanket suspension was illegal. But it is questionable)," he added. Under Section 63 of Republic Act 7160 or the 1991 Local Government Code, preventive suspension may be imposed by the President, “if the respondent is an elective official of a province, a highly urbanized or an independent component city." But if the respondent is an elective official of a component city or town, the power to suspend lies with the governor. If the respondent is an elective official of the barangay (village), the power to suspend lies with the mayor. - LBG/KBK, GMANews.TV