Another farmer tags Andal Jr. in Maguindanao massacre

For the second time since the trial began in January 2010, a witness told the court that he saw Andal Ampatuan Jr. at the checkpoint where the convoy of the 57 victims of the infamous Maguindanao massacre were flagged down. Amil Abdul Satar Maliwawaw, a farmer, told Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 that Andal Jr. led a group of armed men in flagging down the victims at Crossing Salman at about 7 a.m. of Nov. 23, 2009. He said he also saw Andal Jr. and his men bring the victims to the "upland portion" of the village where they were mercilessly shot to death. Maliwawaw said he and his wife went near Crossing Salman to wait for the vehicle that would take his wife to the market to sell their produce. He said after sending off his wife, he took the 30-minute trek back to their house to attend to their children. Soon after returning to their house, Maliwawaw said he heard a volley of gunshots emanating from the upland part of Barangay Salman. Afterward, he noticed a backhoe passing by their house and driving toward the direction of the gunfire. Out of fear, Maliwawaw said he and his family later decided to leave their house and evacuated to the village hall. When asked if he could identify Andal Jr. inside the court room, Maliwawaw stood up and went to the other end of the venue and pointed to Andal Jr., who was seated beside his father, fellow accused Andal Sr. According to private prosecutor Nena Santos, it was already the second time Andal Jr. had been positively identified in court, the first time during the testimony of Akmad Abubakar Esmael, also a farmer, who was passing by the road near the crime site when the victims were killed. Esmael said he saw Andal Jr. and the armed men shoot the victims. He said he managed to slip out of the crime site with the help of one of the armed men who advised him to move away. He said he hid in the bushes not too far away from the crime site and observed the killing. Before positively identifying Andal Jr., Maliwawaw also positively identified suspects PO1 Herich Amaba and Misuari Ampatuan. After pointing to Amaba and Misuari, defense lawyer Andres Manuel called the attention of Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes after noticing private prosecutor Nena Santos standing up and also pointing to some other suspects in the gallery. Andal Jr. and Andal Sr.'s lawyer Sigfrid Fortun also noticed Santos’ actions. "There is an anomaly in the manner of positive identification," he said. Fortun said lawyers from both camps should no longer be allowed to stand up during a positive identification to prevent that kind of "problems." For her part, Santos said she was merely informing the court translator that the witness was still pointing to a third suspect. Solis-Reyes said she made the same observation that Maliwawaw was still pointing to another suspect, even after positively identifying Amaba and Misuari. The other suspect turned out to be Andal Jr. Fortun, however, noted the judge's observation about Maliwawaw's positive identification. "The presiding judge should not be making any statement on this matter," he said. Explaining herself, Solis-Reyes said: "I was merely re-stating what I said earlier that after the witness said [Amaba and Misuari] where the only ones he could recognize. I saw him point at someone. That's it." - KBK, GMA News