Of 57 Maguindanao victims, Andal Jr. shot around 40, says witness

(Updated 10:51 p.m.) Out of the 57 victims of the November 23 massacre in Maguindanao last year, prime suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. himself shot around 40 of them, including women. 
This was according to the prosecution's fifth witness, PO1 Rainer Ebus, a policeman who served as Andal Jr.'s personal driver and escort. 

In his testimony before Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes, Ebus, a co-accused in the multiple murder trial, claimed that he was among the policemen who accompanied Andal Jr. and his private army to the hilly portion of Sitio Masalay in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao where the victims were shot to death.
 
After arriving at the crime site, Ebus allegedly saw Andal Jr. order "more or less" 10 people from the convoy to alight from their vehicles and form a line outside.

 "Pagkatapos ay pinagbabaril na ni Unsay (Unsay then shot them)," said Ebus, who was testifying at the hearing of his motion to be discharged from the list of 196 people accused in the massacre.

 Upon seeing the group of men being shot by Andal Jr., some women inside one of the vehicles reportedly started crying: "Nag-iiyakan sila at pinagbabaril din sila ni Unsay." (They were already crying but Unsay still shot them.) 

Asked how many people Andal Jr. shot in total, Ebus estimated it to be "more or less 40." 

He said he was very "scared" because of what he saw, he rushed inside one of vans and stayed there for around 10 minutes.
 
After that, Ebus said a backhoe arrived at the area as Andal Jr. and his men started leaving the premises.

 Cousin Ebus said that from November 19 to 23, they had been going back and forth to the checkpoint at Sitio Malating to check if the convoy of the Mangudadatus would be arriving. In the morning of November 23, at about 8 a.m., Ebus said their group, led by Andal Jr., ate breakfast at a restaurant owned by Datu Anwar Ampatuan in Shariff Aguak. After eating, the group positioned itself at Sitio Malating, and this time was finally able to block the Mangudadatu convoy. That particular day, Ebus said, he chose to cover his face with a bonnet, because he was afraid one of his cousins — who incidentally was in the convoy and would later be killed — would recognize him. "Mamalasin ako nito kay Mayor. Baka may mangyari sa akin," he added. Later in the night, after the killings, Ebus said he and other escorts of Andal Jr. were allegedly gathered for two separate meetings. One happened on a nearby mountain where Andal Jr advised around 50 gathered individuals, "Maghiwa-hiwalay muna tayo. Huwag muna tayo magkita-kita." After going down the mountain, the men gathered once more at the mansion of Andal Jr. at Shariff Aguak at about 10:30 p.m.

 Ebus claimed that he was "too scared" to stop Andal Jr. from his shooting rampage, because he was aware of the power the former Datu Unsay mayor allegedly wielded.

 "Marami siyang pera. Marami siyng tauhan at ammunition. Kaya niyang pumatay," Ebus said.
 (He has a lot of money. He has a lot of people and ammunition. He can kill anyone.) 
The witness is being cross examined by Andal Jr.'s legal counsel Sigfrid Fortun as of this posting. – VVP/RSJ/JV, GMANews.TV