Missing witnesses vs GMA not yet admitted to WPP

MANILA, Philippines - A government prosecutor admitted that the missing witnesses against former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the electoral sabotage case were not yet admitted to the Witness Protection Program (WPP).

Pasay City Assistant Prosecutor Orlando Mariano said former election officer Rasam Mabang and Norie Unas are not yet considered state witnesses.

Unas and Mabang were supposed to be presented to the bail hearing at Pasay RTC Branch 112 last Thursday.

But Mabang reportedly disappeared, prompting Judge Jesus Mupas to order the termination of the presentation of witnesses in the bail hearing of Arroyo and her co accused former provincial election officer Lintang Bedol and former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan.

Juana Maria Valesa of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) told Mupas that they cannot present Mabang and Unas, claiming they disappeared from the safe house and can no longer be found.

“It is beyond our control,” Valesa said during yesterday’s hearing.

On Friday, the Comelec filed a motion for reconsideration on the court order and promised to produce the witnesses in the next hearing.

Defense counsel Benjamin Santos said they would oppose the motion.

The Comelec was scheduled to present Unas and Mabang as the last two witnesses in the bail hearings.

Valesa said Mabang went missing a few hours before his scheduled testimony before the court yesterday morning.

Unas, on the other hand, could not be presented due to security considerations.

Unas is the lone witness that would supposedly link Arroyo to the alleged cheating in Maguindanao with the claim that she overheard Arroyo giving instructions to Ampatuan to ensure a 12-0 victory for the administration’s senatorial ticket in the 2007 elections.

Mupas has ordered the prosecution to submit its formal offer of evidence in three days after which the defense is given the same period to comment. The case will then be submitted for resolution.

Defense lawyers led by Santos said with the termination of the presentation of witnesses, the electoral sabotage case against Arroyo has collapsed.

“The electoral (sabotage charges) has collapsed and buried, no evidence, no witness to prove the allegations,” he said.