Ampatuans lose bid to have witness charged

MANILA, Philippines - A Manila regional trial court denied yesterday a petition filed by former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.’s lawyer to include a witness as an accused in the Nov. 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre case.

In a two-page order, Judge Silvino Pampilo said National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) witness Kenny Dalagdag is under the government’s witness protection program, and is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for the offense and in which his testimony will be used.

“The court has no power or prerogative to intervene with the functions of the executive department to decide whom to prosecute,” Pampilo said.

Ampatuan’s lawyer, Sigfrid Fortun, said Dalagdag should be criminally charged since he admitted participating in the planning and execution of the massacre.

Fortun also filed his opposition to a move to defer the arraignment of Sultan Baroquis Vice Mayor Zukarno Badal and exclude him as one of the 196 accused in the massacre case being tried in the courtroom of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes.

Prosecutors want Badal turned into a state witness, but Fortun said Badal “appears to be the most guilty,” citing testimony from Rasul Sangki pointing to him as one of the gunmen in the massacre.

Badal surrendered to the NBI office in Central Mindanao on Nov. 7, 2010. He identified Andal Jr. as the one who gave orders to shoot the victims.

Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr. said the arrest of Police Officer 1 Ahmad Camsa Badal brings to 10 the number of members of the Ampatuan clan already in government custody.

Police are hunting down 102 other accused, including 18 more members of the Ampatuan clan. Among them are former mayors Banjarin Ampatuan and Saudi Ampatuan Jr., former vice mayor Kanor Ampatuan and PO1 Alfie Pagabangan.

Seven other clan members implicated in the massacre are Harris, Ipi, Kagi Amar, Mama, Moning, Tony Kenis, and Ulo, all surnamed Ampatuan. Other relatives being hunted by the police are Nasser Adam, Hadji Mogira Angulat, Hamid Delayudin, Jagi Faizal, Parido Zangkala Gogo, Tammy Masukat, and Jun Pendatun. – Sandy Araneta, Reinir Padua, Cecille Suerte Felipe