DOJ urged to reject Zaldy Ampatuan's bid to turn witness vs Arroyo

Families of the slain journalists in the infamous Maguindanao massacre on Monday asked the Department of Justice to reject an offer by one of the principal suspects to turn state witness in the poll fraud case against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In a three-page letter, the families expressed fears that once Zaldy Ampatuan, a suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor, is given witness status under the auspices of the Witness Protection Program, he will be accorded preferential treatment in contrast with his present condition as detainee. Zaldy, his father Andal Ampatuan Sr. and brothers Andal Jr. and Sajid allegedly masterminded the killing of 57 people — 32 of them journalists — in a town named after them on Nov. 23, 2009. Also killed were relatives and supporters of incumbent Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto" Mangudadatu. On Monday, the families of the journalists, represented by lawyer Harry Roque, paid a courtesy call to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to urge her and WPP chief Martin Menes to turn down Zaldy’s request for being “morally reprehensible." “All he can say are mere generalities of little evidentiary value," the group said in their letter. “In the first place, all he has presented is an unsigned statement that links the former President to cheating in Maguindanao during the 2004 presidential election and 2007 senatorial elections." Mrs. Arroyo, Andal Sr., and former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol have already been ordered arrested after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) last Friday filed an electoral sabotage case against them. Because the law states that the government is duty-bound to provide a government witness safe haven for the rest of his or her life, Zaldy’s admission to the WPP would be his vehicle for a life spent out of jail, the group said. They also pointed out that Zaldy has no personal knowledge about the supposed poll fraud for which Arroyo was charged with, and his testimony is not indispensable to the prosecution. Instead of placing Zaldy in the WPP, the group said that the government should see to it that Zaldy would be arraigned for his offenses as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Roque said they are also set to file a P15-million civil suit against Mrs. Arroyo for allegedly tolerating the Ampatuan clan’s militia group during her administration. Roque said each of his 15 clients will be asking P1 million damages for Mrs. Arroyo’s supposed failure to clamp down the growing influence and power of the Ampatuans during her presidency. “If not for Mrs. Arroyo, the Ampatuan clan would not be able to build up such army that he claimed to have terrorized those who had been living in Maguindanao," he said. — KBK, GMA News