Lawyers grill Maguindanao eyewitness about his eyesight

By questioning him about his eyesight, defense lawyers cast doubts on the testimony of a person claiming to be an eyewitness in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre. Defense lawyers asked how Salman barangay kagawad Noh Akil executed his affidavit in December last year when he has poor eyesight. The lawyers recalled last week's hearing when Akil failed to tell the court if the affidavit being shown to him at that time was his. AKil did not bring his glasses with him during last week's hearing and thus could not read the document being shown to him. "His eyeglasses must be very important during the time he executed his affidavit," said defense lawyer Paris Real, during the cross examination on Wednesday. Akil, however, clarified that when he executed the affidavit last year, he was wearing his eyeglasses. In his affidavit, Akil claimed that the Ampatuans ordered him to lie about what he saw on the day of the killings on November 23 last year. Akil earlier told the court that he saw armed men set up a checkpoint at Sitio Malating as early as November 20. After the killings,Akil claimed that he was invited to the house of the Ampatuans in Shariff Aguak. Suspect police officials allegedly asked him to tell investigators that he arrived too late at the checkpoint to see who were manning them. No translator Real also noted that Akil did not have a translator with him when he made his sworn statement on December 11 last year. "It is also very enlightening that there was no translator at that time," added Real. Akil said he understood the questions posed by investigators because they used easy-to-understand Filipino language. Akil testified in Maguindanaoan and his statements are being translated in court both in Filipino and English. – VVP, GMANews.TV