Slain journalist's wife breaks down at Ampatuan trial

The Ampatuan trial in Taguig City on Wednesday started off with an emotional outburst of one of the relatives of the 57 victims of the massacre.

 The prosecution had just presented its third witness in court when Myrna Reblando, wife of Alejandro "Bong" Reblando, one of the 32 slain journalists, suddenly broke into tears and began shouting: "Bakit ninyo sila pinatay?" (Why did you kill them?) 

Her lawyer, private prosecutor Harry Roque, had to take her out of the court room and pacify her.

 Outside, a hyperventilating Reblando did not stop bellowing at the top of her voice, saying repeatedly, "Hindi ko na kaya ito! Hindi ko na kaya ito!" (I cannot take this anymore! I cannot take this anymore!)

 Jail officials rushed to her side and checked her blood pressure, which was found to be at 190/110.

 "High blood siya, kaya inadvice siya ng lawyer niya na magpahinga muna (She has high blood pressure that's why her lawyer advised her to rest first)," Inspector Edwin Kasan, an operations official at the Bureau of Jail Managment-National Capital Region Office.

 The hearing is currently going on and the prosecution's third witness, Abdul Abubakar Esmael, a corn farmer from Sitio Masalay, was drawing a sketch of their sitio. 

He claimed to be at the hilly portion of the village when the massacre victims were killed.

 "Nandun ako sa malapitan kung saan sila pinatay (I was near the place where they were killed)," he told the court. He said he was about to bring his corn harvest to a corn miller near the crime site when he witnessed the killings. Ampatuan massacre The Maguindanao massacre, also known as the Ampatuan massacre, occurred on November 23, 2009 in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province in Mindanao. At the time, the massacre victims were on their way to file Esmael Mangudadatu's certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governor. Mangudadatu, then Buluan vice mayor, won the gubernatorial post during the May 10 polls. The 57 people who were brutally killed and buried in a mass grave in Ampatuan town included Mangudadatu's wife, his two sisters, journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were witnesses or were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy. – VVP, GMANews.TV