Mangudadatu to meet with PNoy over Zaldy exposé

Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu and other relatives of the victims in the Ampatuan massacre secured an audience with President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday afternoon. At the meeting scheduled at 4 p.m. in Malacañang, Mangudadatu will seek "clarifications" regarding recent revelations by Maguindanao massacre suspect and suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Rizaly "Zaldy" Ampatuan. Mangudadatu lost his wife and two sisters in the massacre now regarded as the worst election-related incident in the country and worst attack on journalists anywhere in the world. Fifty-seven people, including 32 journalists, were killed in the carnage on November 23, 2009. Asked what particular matters he plans to bring up in the meeting with President, Mangudadatu said: "Tungkol sa massacre case, plunder case, at case sa AMLC... Saan ba niya balak mag-state witness?" Zaldy is currently facing several charges in different venues, including the 57 counts of murder before a Quezon City court, plunder charge before the Office of the Ombudsman, and a complaint before the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). In several television interviews, Zaldy said he has decided to tell everything he knows about the November 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre. But Mangudadatu noted that Zaldy, in those interviews, did not specifically say he wanted to become state witness in the massacre case. At a press conference in Quezon City, private prosecutor Harry Roque said he has no plan of joining Mangudadatu in the latter's meeting with the President. "Ayoko sumama doon, nandoon si [Presidential spokesperson Edwin] Lacierda eh," Roque said in jest. Roque and Lacierda are recently at odds over Zaldy's latest exposés. Roque accused Lacierda of acting as a "bridge" between the Palace and Zaldy's camp so the former ARMM governor could be exonerated from any criminal charges. Roque has already called for Lacierda's resignation, while the presidential spokesperson said he would just "ignore" Roque's tirades. Lacierda earlier accused Roque of "politicizing" the issue of Zaldy's revelations, but Roque denied the accusation. — LBG, GMA News