Ampatuan clan ‘insider’ to appear as witness in massacre case – Mangudadatu

A male “insider" from the Ampatuan clan has agreed to come forward as witness for the prosecution in the multiple murder trial of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., prime suspect in the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao last November 23. This was revealed by Maguindanao Governor-elect Esmael Mangudadatu – whose wife, two sisters and other relatives were killed in the mass slaughter – on Tuesday, a day before the seventh month commemoration of the massacre. “Lahat-lahat ilalahad niya. Bata pa ito, na kay Andal na ito. Alam niya lahat mula sa mga yaman ni Andal hanggang sa pagplano ng massacre," Mangudadatu said in an interview with GMANews.TV on Tuesday. (He will reveal everything. He was already with Andal when he was still a child. He knows how how Andal became wealthy and he knows how he planned the massacre.) “Kung bomba ito, siguro nuclear bomb na ang mga pasasabugin niya," he added. (If this was a bomb, this would be nuclear.) Mangudadatu said this man “just escaped" from the Ampatuan camp and is already in the custody of “authorities." “Tumakas lang siya kasi hindi na niya nakakayanan ginagawa nila. Nakokonsensya na siya. Hindi rin siya nakalabas agad kasi natatakot siya na baka ipapatay siya," the governor-elect said. (He escaped because he couldn’t take what they were doing anymore. He was conscience-stricken. He was not able to escape immediately because he was scared that they might have him killed.) Mangudadatu added that he has already personally talked with the new witness and urged him to “go all out" once the trial on the massacre case resumes. Fifty-seven people, including 34 media personnel, were brutally killed in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao while on their way to file the certificate of candidacy of Mangudadatu, then vice mayor of Buluan town. The massacre, dubbed as “the deadliest single attack on the press ever documented, was allegedly masterminded by members of the Ampatuan clan. Members of the clan are known to be political allies of the Arroyo administration. The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 has indefinitely suspended proceedings on the multiple murder case against Andal Jr. until all motions filed before it are resolved. Prime suspect Andal Jr. is currently detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City while he is being tried for multiple murder. 7th month commemoration To commemorate the seventh month of the massacre, relatives of those killed in the massacre will hold a mass rally on Wednesday in Kidapawan City in North Cotabato, according to Mangudadatu. Mangudadatu said that he and other bereaved relatives of the massacre victims will continue commemorating the mass slaughter until they achieve justice. The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) will likewise hold a protest march on Wednesday in Quezon City to commemorate the massacre. The NUJP likewise urged members of the media to wear black and light candles “to show our unified resolve to stop this culture of impunity in the country and call on the incoming administration of President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to face the murder of journalists squarely." - RJAB Jr./LBG, GMANews.TV