Foreign Correspondence

[fuagf]

Maguindanao massacre trial begins
abs-cbnNEWS.com
09/09/2010

MANILA, Philippines (1st UPDATE) - Almost 10 months after the Maguindanao massacre that killed at least 57 people, the trial finally started with a former house helper of the Ampatuans the first to take the witness stand.

Insert: The Philippines ... officially known as the Republic of the Philippines .. is a country in Southeast Asia in the
western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines

Insert: WARNING .. the video is horrifyingly graphic in places .. raw reality of the extreme ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqHQ93ufsho

Lakmudin Saliao, a helper of the Ampatuan family for over 20 years, testified on Wednesday that Andal Ampatuan Jr., the main defendant in the Maguindanao massacre, wanted everyone in the convoy killed, including the media practitioners.

Prosecutors called Saliao's statements a "smoking gun" testimony.

Saliao said Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan was in 2 meetings prior to the massacre, and had agreed on the plan to kill the members of the convoy, led by the their political rival, the Mangudadatu clan, provided that they are able to cover up the crime,

He said one meeting was held on November 17, and another on the eve of the November 23 massacre.

In one of those meetings, Saliao said former Gov. Ampatuan said he would fly to Manila so that their participation in the crime would not be obvious. The ARMM governor had used the fact that he was in Manila attending a political meeting as an alibi.

Saliao also testified that on November 24, the day after the massacre, there was a meeting with Andal Ampatuan Sr., the patriarch of the family, along with then Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen, then Presidential Adviser on Mindanao Secretary Jesus Dureza, and an administrative officer of the ARMM.

Insert: Al Jazeera video .. excellent as always ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHdE_zXV-u0&feature=fvw

In that meeting, Saliao said it was agreed there that they would surrender Andal Jr. to the custody of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and they were elated about it.

Saliao was not able to complete his testimony. The court adjourned prior to the lunch, and Saliao's testimony will continue on September 15.

Prior to Saliao's testimony, government prosecutors had said he would testify not only on the involvement of several members of the Ampatuan family, but also on alleged attempts after the massacre to cover up the crime, including alleged attempts by the Ampatuan family to bribe judges, Philippine National Police officials, and officials of the AFP to cover up their involvement

Judge Jocelyn Reyes had rejected a motion by lawyers for main defendant Andal Ampatuan Jr. to move back the start of the trial 10 days.

Ampatuan and more than 100 gunmen allegedly stopped a convoy belonging to the Mangudadatus in Maguindanao province, killed 57 people, and pushed the bodies into mass graves the suspects had dug beforehand.

Delayed for 5 months

Manette Salaysay, a relative of one of the victims who attended the court session, hailed the start of the trial, which had been delayed for 5 months.

"It is difficult to fight these devils," she told Agence France-Presse, referring to Ampatuan and 16 police officers also facing trial, accused of taking part in the massacre.

"We want to see the light of justice," Salaysay added.

Ampatuan Jr., wearing a yellow prison shirt and flanked by plainclothes police, sat impassively behind his lawyers as the witness was sworn in.

The trial, held at a special courtroom built inside a maximum-security police jail in southern Manila, is being held amid allegations of witness intimidation and fears the case could drag on for years.

It was to start last week but Reyes moved it back 7 days to give the Ampatuan lawyers more time to comment on previous court rulings related to the case.

Rights groups and the victims' relatives have accused the Ampatuans of applying delaying tactics while ordering their men to terrorize witnesses.

5 people who knew abuses killed

Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia chief of the New York-based monitor Human Rights Watch, said 5 people with knowledge of alleged abuses by the Ampatuans had been killed since the massacre.

The five included a key massacre witness who could have placed Ampatuan at the scene, she said.

"Abuses in Maguindanao have not stopped with the arrest of six members of the Ampatuan family," Pearson said in a statement.

"Prompt investigation of ongoing crimes is essential to prevent further killing and to stop suspects from interfering with the trial."

At least 30 journalists were among those shot dead in the massacre in Maguindanao province in the single biggest attack on the working press in history, according to global press watchdogs.

Five other Ampatuans, including the patriarch Andal Sr., are among the 196 people facing charges related to the massacre, although more than 100 of the alleged gunmen remain at large.

Ampatuan Jr., then a town mayor, allegedly led the massacre to stop the rival from running against him for the post of Maguindanao province governor in this year's national elections.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has granted the request of the lawyer of the Ampatuans, Atty. Sigfrid Fortun, not to allow media interviews outside the courtroom after the hearings. -- report from Ces Drilon, ABS-CBN News; ANC; Agence France-Presse

Other Headlines

* Maguindanao massacre trial starts; witness takes stand
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/08/10/fears-witnesses-maguindanao-massacre-trial-starts
* Cop in Maguindanao massacre nabbed in Sarangani
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/09/02/10/cop-maguindanao-massacre-nabbed-sarangani
* Over 400 witnesses readied for Maguindanao massacre trial
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/02/10/over-400-witnesses-readied-maguindanao-massacre-trial
* Outrage after latest delay in Maguindanao massacre trial
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/01/10/outrage-after-latest-delay-maguindanao-massacre-trial
* Police arrest another Maguindanao massacre suspect
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/08/29/10/police-arrest-another-maguindanao-massacre-suspect
* Photo exhibit marks 9th month of Maguindanao massacre
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/08/28/10/photo-exhibit-marks-9th-month-maguindanao-massacre

1 comment .. Plunder cases
by abdulmagon on Wed, 09/08/2010 - 14:44

Plunder cases must be filed simultaneously with these murder cases against the whole Ampatuan clan and their allies. While they always kill political opponents along their ways, they also enrich themselves immensely using the IRAs of the province of Maguindanao and its towns. These politicians have gargantuan mansions, the latest models of luxury cars and able to sent their kids to best schools in the cities of davao and manila. Saan sila kumuha ng kayamanan na di naman sila mayayaman bago sila nagsiupo sa pwesto? Dapat kumpiskahin na ng gobyerno lahat ng mga ito dahil bukod sa makadagdag sa pondo ng gobyerno, mawawalan na ang mga Ampatuans ng sources na pambayad sa mga abogado nila at pam-bribe sa maga pamilya ng mga witnesses at pambayad pati sa mga hired killers para pumatay ng mga pamilya ng witnesses pag di pumayag sa mga gusto nila. Kahit nakakulong yan sila, ang mga babae ang kumikilos ngayon. Sina Rebecca Ampatuan Ampatuan and Saidi Ampatuan Abutazil, mga notorious ito na mga anak ni Andal, Sr.

abdulmagon

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/08/10/maguindanao-massacre-trial-begins