Massacre suspect laments case’s non-inclusion in PNoy's SONA

A policeman implicated in the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre on Thursday said he wished President Benigno Aquino III mentioned their high-profile case when he delivered his State of the Nation Address last Monday. In an interview with GMA News Online, PO2 Saudiar Ullah said he was able to listen to Aquino's speech inside their detention cell at the Quezon City Jail Annex at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. In his 57-minute speech, Aquino tackled, among others, the progress of the government's campaign against corruption, including the Justice department's efforts to pursue cases involving large-scale irregularities in the government. Aquino, however, made no mention about the progress of the Maguindanao massacre case, considered a high-profile case because of the magnitude of the crime — 57 people killed, 32 of them journalists. "Dapat sinama niya kami sa speech niya kasi marami dito sa amin ang walang kinalaman sa massacre," Ullah said. Ullah and 16 other policemen who were also tagged in the massacre earlier sent a hand-written letter to the President seeking for a reinvestigation of the case. Ullah and other policemen belonging to the 1507th and 1508th provincial police mobile group in Maguindanao have repeatedly denied participation in the killings. Several witnesses earlier claimed a band of local policemen were manning several checkpoints in Sitios Malating and Masalay where the massacre victims were initially flagged down before being killed. Over 60 local policemen from Maguindanao, including Ullah, are the subject of a separate investigation by the National Police Commission to determine their administrative liabilities for the massacre. Private prosecutor Harry Roque, who represents families of 15 of the 57 victims, earlier lamented Aquino's non-inclusion of the massacre case in his SONA, saying it only showed that the case is not among the this administration's priorities. - Mark D. Merueñas/KBK, GMA News