MANILA – Members of the Ampatuan clan have filed separate appeals to the guilty verdict meted by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) in relation to the Maguindanao Massacre incident.
Datu Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan elevated his appeal straight to the Court of Appeals (CA) as he asked the Quezon City RTC Branch 221 to submit all the records of the case to the CA.
Anwar Ampatuan Sr., and his sons Anwar “Datu Ipi” Ampatuan Jr. and Datu Anwar Sajid “Datu Ulo” Ampatuan, meanwhile, filed motions for reconsideration before the Quezon City court, casting doubt on the credibility of star witness Sukarno Badal.
“As to how the said witness could have memorized, precisely to the letter, all of the statements made by each and every supposed participant in all of these meetings, is highly doubtful, nay miraculous,” Anwar Sr. said.
Anwar Sr. added there was not enough evidence to prove he was part of the conspiracy to kill now-Maguindanao Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu despite him “agreeing to kill” members of the Mangudadatu clan in a meeting.
The Quezon City court said that, while Anwar Sr. was not at the scene of the crime on Nov. 23, 2009, his suggestion to kill the Mangudadatus and to bury their vehicles “was one of the moving factors which emboldened all the more Datu (Andal) Unsay (Ampatuan) and their other cohorts in carrying out their wicked plan.”
Anwar Sr. casted doubt on the allegation that he aided and facilitated the escape of Datu Unsay, pointing out that the only evidence presented by the prosecution to prove this is an alleged phone call by prosecution witness Lakmodin Saliao to him.
Datu Ipi and Datu Ulo, meanwhile, said Badal only testified that they were seen at one of the meetings, but did not mention what their involvement was. They added Badal recanted his testimony during cross examination that the two were present during the Nov. 16, 2009 meeting.
“The court should not have relied heavily on Badal’s testimony. This particular witness lied with respect to a material point, and there was a conscious and deliberate intention to falsify,” Datu Ipi and Datu Ulo said.
Badal, who was the vice mayor of Sultan Sabarongis town in Maguindanao when the massacre happened, claimed in his testimony that he was the commander of the Ampatuan family’s private armed group.
Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes on Dec. 19 declared several members of the Ampatuan clan guilty of multiple murder for the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009.
The Maguindanao Massacre is considered as the Philippines’ worst case of election-related violence and the single deadliest attack on journalists since detailed records were kept./PN
