QC court gives green light for henchman's testimony in Maguindanao trial

The special court in Quezon City hearing the Maguindanao massacre trial has given the go signal for the prosecution to present Kenny Dalandag, an alleged henchman of the powerful Ampatuan clan. In an order dated July 1, the court junked two motions of the camp of principal suspect and former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., who said Dalandag should not testify but should be charged instead because the henchman claimed that he participated in the killing of 57 people in Maguindanao in November 2009. Dalandag also claimed he was present when the Ampatuans and their supporters planned the attack over dinner in their mansion in Shariff Aguak. Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Regional Trial Court Branch 221 said Andal Jr.'s arguments were "bereft of merit," saying "The court... is of the view that Kenny Dalandag cannot be disqualified or excluded as a witness on the ground that he did not pass through the crucible of accused-conversion evaluation." The prosecution tried presenting Dalandag as its first witness against clan patriarch and principal suspect Andal Ampatuan Sr last June 23 but defense lawyers cited Andal Jr.'s pending motion as the reason why the henchman should not yet be allowed to do so. The judge and lawyers from both panels eventually agreed to defer Dalandag's testimony until a resolution for the said motion was made. Testimony of 33 other witnesses In the same July 1 order, Solis-Reyes also allowed 33 co-accused to testify in the court proceedings, despite an earlier opposition from the defense. The defense said allowing them to testify would become a "precedent" for subsequent accused individuals who might signify their intention to take the witness stand and implicate innocent people in exchange for being dropped from the charge sheet. However, the prosecution said the defense's opposition was "premature," adding that it merely pre-marked the witnesses as required by guidelines during pre-trial. The prosecution said the defense can raise their objections anew once the 33 co-accused are presented in court. For her part, Solis-Reyes said no one can dictate the prosecution which individuals to present as their witnesses. "Not even the court can prevent them from utilizing the accused as their witnesses provided all the requirements for the latter's discharge as state witnesses are complied with," the judge said. The defense also said the prosecution should first drop the 33 accused from the charge sheet if it really wanted to present them as witnesses. Solis-Reyes said: "There is nothing under the rules which requires the prosecution to ask first for the discharge of accused as state witnesses before their names may be included in the list of witnesses to be presented." 500 witnesses Based on a pre-trial order for the case against Andal Jr, the prosecution said it was planning to present almost 200 witnesses while the defense had more than 300 witnesses. The prosecution has so far presented around 40 witnesses since trial - which has been said to drag on for years - began in early 2010. Apart from a number of Ampatuan clan members, local policemen and supposed private militiamen of the Ampatuans make up the list of 197 people accused for murder. Around 90 are in government custody, while more than 100 are still at large. Considered the worst election-related violence in the Philippines and worst single attack on journalists anywhere in the world, the Maguindanao massacre left 57 people dead, mostly members of an electoral convoy of the Ampatuans' rival clan as well as 32 journalists. A 58th victim, Tacurong City-based Midland Review photojournalist Reynaldo Momay, remains missing to this day. - VVP, GMA News