Farmer witness tags Ampatuan henchman in massacre

For the third time since the trial began, the prosecution in the high profile Maguindanao massacre case recalled another witness to testify against the accused in the grisly November 2009 crime. Akmad Abubakar Esmael, a farmer, took the witness stand anew and positively identified Moactar Daud as among those involved in the killing of 57 people in Maguindanao province on Nov. 23, 2009. Daud was a member of the private army of the Ampatuan clan, the family who allegedly masterminded the attack on the convoy led by members of their rival clan, the Mangudadatus. In his first testimony in October last year, Esmael claimed to be at the hilly portion of Barangay Salman when the massacre took place. He said he was about to bring his corn harvest to a miller near the site when he witnessed the attack. He also said he was about two to five meters away from some of the victims when he saw Andal Ampatuan Jr. and several armed men firing at the victims. When he returned to the witness stand Wednesday, Esmael was asked to identify other people involved in the killings who were present at the gallery. He stood up, went to the side of the defense where the massacre suspects were sitting, and pointed to Daud. "Siya ang nagdala ng babae na mababa at mataba at isang babaeng parang buntis," the witness said when asked what was Daud's alleged participation in the massacre. Esmael went around the defense side of the gallery and looked at the other accused individuals, but was not able to identify another suspect. In his second testimony, the witness also said before the killings, some of the female victims who saw him asked him to help them but he did not dare to, saying: "Tinutukan ako ng baril tapos pinaalis ako." Esmael, in his first testimony, said he hid after he saw the massacre. Defense lawyer Paris Real, legal counsel for Sajid Ampatuan, reserved his right to cross examine Esmael, saying he has yet to go over the transcript of the witness' testimony in October. Real was present at the time Esmael made his first court appearance, but was representing another suspect, Police Inspector Michael Joy Macaraeg. He said he was only appointed as counsel de officio of Daud last March. "I have to prepare for an exhaustive cross examination... I have to confront Esmael with particular pages in the transcript of stenographic notes for proper procedures," Real said. But this early, Real said he already found "inconsistencies" in Esmael's latest testimony. He did not elaborate. The other prosecution witnesses who had been recalled during the duration of the trial so far were Dr. Ricardo Rodaje of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and long-time Ampatuan househelp Lakmodin Saliao. Rodaje testified about the remains of the massacre victims that he autopsied, while Saliao testified about the meeting where the Ampatuan family allegedly planned the massacre. - KBK, GMA News