Mangudadatu on Zaldy: 'We are not friends'

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu no longer considers massacre suspect Rizaldy "Zaldy" Ampatuan as his friend. This was according to Mangudadatu's legal counsel in the Maguindanao massacre trial, Nena Santos, in reaction to Zaldy's lawyer Howard Calleja's earlier claim that his client still considers Mangudadatu his friend to this day. "Gov. Toto denies that he and Zaldy are friends as published in the [media]," Santos told reporters on Thursday. Though Santos admitted Mangudadatu and Zaldy could have been "political allies" in the past, that relationship had long disappeared ever since the Nov. 23, 2009 carnage in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao. "Since 2009, they [(Mangudadatus) have] burned bridges with the Ampatuan clan due to the massacre of their kin, relatives, lawyers and media friends," Santos insisted. Calleja made the claims about Zaldy and Mangudadatu's supposed "friendship" in an interview with reporters two weeks ago at the sidelines of the regular massacre hearing in Taguig City. "[Zaldy] until now considers Toto his friend. Hindi niya kino-consider na kaaway si Toto. There's nothing wrong or ill [feelings] that he bears to [Mangudadatu]," Calleja had said that time. Calleja issued the statement to deny accusations hurled against his client that the Ampatuan clan could have been behind a bomb attack allegedly targeted at Mangudadatu in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat last August 15. Mangudadatu emerged unhurt but two people, including a close friend of his, were killed in the attack. Mangudadatu lost his wife and two sisters in what is now considered the worst single-day and election-related violence in Philippine history. The massacre, which killed 57 people including 32 members of the media, is likewise considered the worst against journalists anywhere in the world. Mangudadatu ended up winning the elections and was installed as the new governor, a post long-held by clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., also a co-accused in the massacre case. — RSJ, GMA News