Murder charges vs Mangudadatu dropped

DAVAO CITY , Philippines  – The Davao City Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed for lack of evidence the murder charges against Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu in connection with a shooting incident last month at the J.S. Gaisano Southmall.

“I am thankful to the prosecutors that they have been neutral and they gave me the chance to also air my side,” Mangudadatu said.

Murder charges were earlier filed against Mangudadatu and his two police security escorts, PO1 Ibrahim Langalen and PO1 Surab Lintukan Bantas, for the killing of Tamano Kagi Kamenda, a close aide of former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr.

Bantas and Langalen, however, were formally charged in court for the murder of Kamendan.

Both police officers have been detained at the San Pedro Police Station here since the incident took place last Feb. 11.

The prosecutors noted that there was probable cause for the charging of the crime of murder under Article 243 of the Revised Penal Code because there was abuse of superior strength since the two respondents were armed while the victim was not.

On the claim of self-defense by the two bodyguards, the prosecutors ruled that such justifying circumstance is a matter of evidence for the courts to determine during trial.

The murder charges were actually filed by the Davao City Police Office based on the testimony of Kamendan’s wife, Natividad de Arce.

De Arce claimed that she heard Mangudadatu ordering his two police escorts to shoot her husband.

In a joint resolution dated March 3, Prosecutors Jofre Saniel, Maria Gemma Dabbay-Tambis and Marte Melchor Velasco stated that the charges against Mangudadatu’s alleged complicity in the crime lacked evidence.

The city prosecutors also noted that De Arce did not include in her initial statement the involvement of Mangudadatu in the shooting of her husband.

A witness, Rosario Casiguran Bugayong, testified that she was at the mall during the incident and saw that a man, who she later identified as Kamendan, grabbed the hand of one of Mangudadatu’s daughters.

The daughter’s shout for help started the commotion and the witness attested that she did not notice Mangudadatu talking to anyone prior to the ruckus.

The prosecutors also stated that Kamendan’s witness who would corroborate Natividad’s allegation also failed to appear before the panel despite the subpoena issued to her.

Tight watch in Maguindanao

Meanwhile, the police and military have again placed Shariff Aguak, Mamasapano, Datu Unsay, Datu Saudi and Ampatuan towns under surveillance in anticipation of the possible transfer of former governor Ampatuan to a state-run penitentiary.

Military doctors have given the Ampatuan patriarch a clean bill of health, allowing the authorities to effect the transfer anytime.

Ampatuan has been confined since last December at a hospital inside the seaside camp of the Eastern Mindanao Command in Davao City.

Lt. Col. Benjamin Hao, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the 6th ID is anticipating possible “hostile reactions” by groups identified with the former governor if he is transferred to a detention facility.

“Apparently, it’s only the Department of Justice (DOJ) that has the say on whether former Gov. Ampatuan would be moved to a regular detention facility. Our role is to guard the towns in Maguindanao where there might be possible reactions by his followers on any move to transfer him to a regular detention facility,” Hao said.

Maguindanao’s acting police director, Superintendent Alex Lineses, said they have fielded more plainclothes agents in strategic areas in Shariff Aguak to monitor unusual movements by followers of the former governor if the DOJ would transfer him to a regular detention facility.

“We’re not taking chances. It’s good to be prepared for possible eventualities. It cannot be denied that he still has many followers in the province,” Lineses said.

The DOJ filed last month criminal charges against the former governor, his sons Zaldy, the suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Sajid, and more than a hundred others in connection with the Nov. 23 massacre in Ampatuan town.

The prime suspect in the massacre, Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., is now detained at the central office of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Pleadings delay Ampatuan trial

In a related story, government prosecutors have reiterated their call for a Quezon City judge to inhibit himself from handling a rebellion case against members and supporters of the Ampatuan clan.

The 16-page reply of the Department of Justice (DOJ) signed by State Prosecutor Lamberto Fabros asked Judge Vivencio Baclig of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 77 to set aside the defense’s opposition to the prosecution’s motion.

“Plaintiff (DOJ) respectfully moves that the accused’s opposition be entirely set aside, given its inherent inaccuracies, inconsistencies and ill will,” the reply stated. Prosecutors again cited their claim about the judge’s alleged bias against them.

“Plaintiff (DOJ) is sorry to reiterate that he had lost the faith necessary for them to believe that they will ever get fair and impartial judgment from the court. If only for their peace of mind, therefore they pray that the judge inhibit himself from further trying the case,” it added.

Lawyers for the Ampatuan clan earlier asked Baclig to junk the prosecution’s motion for his inhibition, saying the motion was baseless and lacked merit. They added that the motion was just a dilatory tactic.

But DOJ prosecutors said they were not resorting to any “dilatory postponement” except for reasons like the unavailability of witnesses.

The state prosecutors also claimed that the defense “merely and conveniently seized the opportunity to further divide the judge and the state prosecutors” when the latter filed its opposition to the motion to inhibit.

Members of the Ampatuan clan, meanwhile, have appealed a DOJ resolution last month indicting them for the Maguindanao massacre.

In their separate motions for reconsideration, Acting Maguindanao Gov. Sajid Islam Ampatuan and Saudi Ampatuan town Mayor Saudi Ampatuan Jr. reiterated that they were not involved in the planning and could not be tagged for the massacre since they were not present at the site.

“Respondent Sajid Islam proffered independently relevant and corroborative affidavits confirming the fact that he was with his wife Bai Zandria at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office of the municipality of Shariff Saydona Mustapha on Nov. 23, 2009 from 8:23 a.m. to 12 noon,” the pleading stated.

“Respondent Saudi Ampatuan Jr. also proffered independently corroborative pieces of evidence establishing that he left Davao City on Nov. 22, 2009 at 6 in the evening and arrived in Maguindanao at 11 p.m., and that in the morning of Nov. 23, 2009 he was at the provincial capitol of Maguindanao,” it added.

They also questioned findings of the DOJ panel led by Senior State Prosecutors Leo Dacera and Rosanne Balauag showing a “confluence of events before and immediately after” the massacre indicating that the Ampatuans connived with the killers even if they were not at the site.

They questioned the testimony of witness Kenny Dalandag, which was given weight by the DOJ panel during preliminary investigation.

They said Dalandag’s claim that he saw them in Barangay Matagabon in the morning of the day the massacre happened is fabricated. They added that the national highway in this barangay is 1.5 kilometers away from

Barangay Salman where the convoy of the victims was blocked by the Ampatuan militiamen.

Other respondents - Police Supt. Abusama Munda Maguid, Police Insp. Saudi Mokamad and SPO2 Badawi Bakal - who were indicted in the DOJ resolution also filed separate appeals with the department.

Balauag said they would resolve the appeals before the panel as soon as possible since the trial of the case has already started. -- John Unson, Reinir Padua, Edu Punay