Killing of massacre witness still being verified, police say

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is still verifying whether the supposed key witness in the Maguindanao massacre was killed in the same region last week. At the same time, it also appealed to prosecutors to avoid jumping the gun by condemning the "unverified" murder’s alleged perpetrators. Police records do not show a certain "Suwaib Upham" being killed in Parang town in Maguindanao on June 14, as claimed by a lawyer representing the families of journalists killed in the carnage, a police official investigating the Maguindanao massacre said on Friday. However, a certain Suwaid Dalanda appeared in police records as being killed in Barangay Nituan in Parang town on June 14, said Deputy Director General Jefferson Soriano, head of the PNP's National Investigation on the Maguindanao Massacre. Police are still checking whether Upham and Dalanda are one and the same person, he added. Soriano said Suwaib Upham does not appear on the PNP's list of considered witnesses and suspects in what is now considered the worst single-day election-related violence. But a certain "Saudi Upham" does. Upham — who originally appeared to media under the pseudonym "Jessie" — was said to be one of the seven gunmen who participated in the killing of 57 people, most of whom were journalists, in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town on November 23 last year. Lawyer Harry Roque, representing families of 14 slain journalists, said Upham was never included in their pool of witnesses after attempts to include him in the government's Witness Protection Program (WPP) failed. Upham is dead, counsel says In an attempt to clear the name issue, Roque insisted the "Suwaib Dalanda" on the police records is also Upham. For security purposes, Upham used "Dalanda" as his surname in his identification card when he traveled to Manila, the lawyer said. "Ang problema sa Maguindanao, halos walang documentation diyan... Ang mga katutubo sa lugar na iyan ay wala talagang birth certificates," he said. (The problem in Maguindanao is that there is no documentation. Indigenous people in the area do not have birth certificates.) "Kaya si Upham, kumuha siya ng ID para makarating sa Manila at makapag-apply sa WPP. Kaya lang siya nagkaroon ng ID ay para diyan," he added. (Upham had to apply for an ID card just so he could fly to Manila for the WPP.) Roque said his camp is certain about Upham's death, saying they received four separate verifications from at least four sources. "Before I announced his death, I had four confirmations: from someone who approached us, [Upham's] uncle, cousin, and the Human Rights Watch (HRW) which has people on the ground in Maguindanao and confirmed his death," Roque told QTV's Balitanghali in a separate interview. He said the HRW even provided him details and circumstances of Upham's death. Although they have yet to coordinate with the PNP regarding the killing, Roque said that they are willing to do so. He said he was already drafting a letter to PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa seeking to investigate the matter. There’s no need to exhume Upham's remains just to prove his identity, Roque said. "Wala na kaming kaduda-duda na nabaril si Jessie dahil isang kaanak na niya ang nag-identify ng bangkay niya," he said. (There is no doubt that Jessie (Upham’s alias) was shot dead because one of his relatives identified his corpse.) The lawyer also doubted the PNP's investigative capabilities, saying the prosecution was able to verify the death even before the police did. "Nakapagtataka na naman na sa isang patayan, wala na namang kaalam-alam ang ating kapulisan," Roque said. (It remains mystifying why the police do not know anything about a murder.) "Lalo po akong nagkakaroon ng alinlangan sa kakayahan ng ating mga pulis dahil sila ang huling nakaaalam ng kung ano talaga ang nangyari," he added. (I continue to have doubts regarding the capabilities of our police personnel because they are the last to know about what happened.) Earlier, Roque admitted the prosecution suffered a big blow after Upham's death, but added their multiple murder case against 197 suspects in the carnage remain strong. He is also hoping their chances of winning the case would grow with the change in administration. "Nanghihinayang kami kasi siya na sana ang pinakamalakas naming testigo... pero naniniwala po ako sa pagpasok ng bagong administration ni Aquino at ni [Commission on Human Rights chairperson] Leila de Lima sa DOJ [Department of Justice] ay mabubuhayan ng loob ng mga pamilya," Roque said. (We deeply regret losing [Upham] because he was supposed to be our strongest witness. But I believe that the families of slain victims will be cheered up especially with the incoming administration of Aquino and Leila de Lima’s appointment to the DOJ.) Unverified reports indicate that President-elect Benigno Simeon Aquino III, set to take his oath on June 30, would appoint De Lima to the Justice department. — LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV