Another farmer-witness places Andal Jr. in Ampatuan massacre site

Another prosecution witness in the Maguindanao massacre trial claimed seeing principal suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. with a band of armed men near the site where 57 people were massacred on Nov. 23, 2009. In his testimony during Thursday's hearing at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, farmer Lagueden Alfonso said he was at their house at Crossing Masalay in Barangay Salman when he spotted the former Datu Unsay town mayor talking to alleged members of the Ampatuan clan's civilian volunteer organization (CVO) member along a highway in the village. "I saw Datu Unsay [Andal Jr.'s nickname] with some CVOs and policemen pointing to the mountain," Alfonso told Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Regional Trial Court Branch 221. The witness testified in his native Maguindanaoan and was assisted by a court interpreter. The carnage happened on a hilly portion of Sitio Masalay at Barangay Salman, and those who were killed mostly belonged to an electoral convoy of Esmael Mangudadatu — the Ampatuans’ political rival — including 32 media workers. The witness said he was "around 15 meters away" from Andal Jr. when he saw the former mayor. Alfonso admitted being "afraid" of the armed men and the "good-looking vehicles, two Sanguko [armed vehicles], and police cars" parked outside his aunt's house, not too far away from their residence. He said he told his "mother to pack our goods from the store" as they prepared to evacuate to a nearby "camp" of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). "But a CVO told us not to go to the MNLF camp because we will not like what we will see... We were afraid," the witness said. A large truck and a backhoe The witnesses said at that point, they just decided to proceed at his aunt's house. While at his aunt's residence, Alfonso said he heard "gun explosions in the mountain." After the gun shots subsided, Alfonso said he saw a large truck and a backhoe "going up and going down from the mountain." The backhoe was supposedly used to dig a mass grave where some of the victims and their vehicles were buried. The witness then said he saw several "good-looking" cars drive down from the mountain that "only had a driver and no passengers inside." After seeing the group of vehicles, Alfonso said he and his relatives decided to leave his aunt's house and proceed to a barangay hall some 500 meters away, where they stayed for three days. Apart from Alfonso, other prosecution witnesses who testified in the past and claimed to have seen Andal Jr. near or at the crime site were Amil Abdul Satar Maliwawaw and Akmad Abubakar Esmael. 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 when they saw Andal Jr. and some armed men bring the victims from a checkpoint at Crossing Salman to an "upland portion" of the village. Esmael also told the court he was passing by the road near the crime scene when the victims were killed. He said he saw Andal Jr. and the armed men shooting the victims. He said he managed to slip out of the area with the help of one of the armed men who advised him to go away. — VS, GMA News