Prosecution drops cop as state witness in Maguindanao trial



The prosecution in the Ampatuan multiple murder trial has decided it will no longer ask the court to turn a policeman, one of the suspects in the case, into a state witness. Assistant chief state prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon said they will no longer pursue their motion to discharge Inspector Michael Joy Macaraeg from the murder case and turn him into a state witness.

 The prosecution told Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes that the testimonies of two other witnesses presented in court earlier were reportedly enough to pin down the suspects in the case. The judge accepted the prosecution's manifestation during Wednesday's hearing at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. Testimony immaterial 
The prosecution has been trying to establish that the Ampatuans and its band of militiamen hatched the November 23 massacre. The prosecutors also want to prove that as early as November 19, armed men of the family and the local police set up checkpoints to block the victims.

 Private prosecutor Nena Santos said the police official's testimony was already "immaterial" both for the prosecution and prime suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr.

 "Macaraeg can absolve himself...That he was not part of the November 19, 20, 21, and 22 conspiracy," Santos said.
 However, Santos said they later "established" that Macaraeg was not present at the checkpoint from November 19 to 22, and that he only manned it on the day of the massacre.

 "That means he does not know the conspiracy," Santos said. The prosecution, through witness Lakmodin Saliao, claimed the carnage was allegedly planned over a series of meetings at Ampatuan houses in Shariff Aguak on November 17, 19, and 22. State witnesses 

Originally, the prosecution wanted to turn into state witnesses Macaraeg and three other suspects including: