Witness ready to face firing squad

A defense witness has expressed willingness to face the firing squad should the accuser the alleged Pasig City shabu flea market operator Amin Imam Boratong is not his son, a lawyer said yesterday.

Lawyer Raymond Fortun said his witness Hadji Ibrahim Daluma was angry at the prosecution’s insinuation that Samer Palao – whose real name was Mangandama Boratong was not his son.

Daluma challenged the prosecution to subject him and his two sons to a DNA test to put the issue to rest. “My witness is so sure that Palao is his son and he challenged the prosecution to DNA tests to prove this. Once Palao is not his son, my witness is willing to face the firing squad,” said Fortun in an interview.

Palao’s accusation that Boratong was behind the operation of the raided shabu tiangge located along Mapayapa compound in Barangay Sto. Tomas in Pasig City led to the former’s arrest and charged with maintenance of a drug den.

Boratong and his second wife, Sheryl Molera, are undergoing trial before the chamber of Judge Abraham Borreta, of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 154.

When the prosecution presented him before Borreta, Palao said Boratong was not his brother and that Daluma was his ama-amahan. But in the last hearing, Daluma claimed Palao and Boratong are his sons with his marriage to Laindagan Boratong. He said Palao was born in their residence in Lumba-Bayabao, Lanao del Sur on Oct. 21, 1969 while Boratong on July 14, 1972.

During cross-examination by the prosecution, however, Daluma admitted that he was the third husband of the late Boratong, whose first husband Maniri Palao, who at 80-years-old, is still alive. The defense witness claimed his former wife divorced Palao before they became partners, which is allowed under Muslim laws.