Ampatuan housekeeper returns to the witness stand; identifies Andal Sr

UPDATED 3:45 p.m. - Lakmodin Saliao, a former long-time housekeeper of the Ampatuan clan, returned to the witness stand on Wednesday to testify against clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. Saliao had previously testified against Andal Sr.'s son, Andal Ampatuan Jr., one of the suspects in the mass killing of 57 people, including 32 journalists in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao on November 23, 2009. The prosecution presented Saliao to identify the people present during the meeting in November 2009 when the supposed plot to kill the massacre victims was hatched. When asked "what is the relation between the Andal Sr he saw during the dinner meeting, and the Andal Sr. present on Wednesday's hearing," Saliao replied: "Iisa lang po." Saliao stood up and went to the side of the defense and pointed to the clan patriarch, positively identifying him as the one who "ordered" the attack on the convoy of their political rival, the Mangudadatus. Saliao also said Andal Sr's son and former Maguindanao officer-in-charge, Sajid, was present during the planning of the attack. The witness also positively identified Sajid, who was beside his father inside the court room. Not in the murder charge During the hearing, Saliao stood up and went to the side of the defense and pointed to a person in the gallery. Saliao said the man he pointed to was the lawyer of Andal Sr.'s son Sajid, another massacre suspect. The man was later identified as a certain "Atty. Art Loren Tan." However, defense lawyers cut Saliao short, saying he should point only to people who are in the murder charge sheet. "Atty. Tan is wearing a white barong and black trousers and not yellow as all the accused are," lawyer Sigfrid Fortun said. "His task was simply to identify the accused he identified in his previous testimony... But Saliao said more than what he was asked to do," Fortun added. The defense lawyer said Saliao's actions indicated "the quality of witness that he is." Last year, Saliao had already claimed in court that the Ampatuans and their supporters planned the massacre over dinner in their mansion in Shariff Aguak. - VVP, GMA News