Bid to turn backhoe operator into state witness opposed

MANILA, Philippines - Defense lawyers in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre trial opposed the prosecution’s bid to turn into a state witness the backhoe operator who allegedly dug the graves of the massacre victims.

In a 15-page comment released to the media yesterday, lawyers led by Philip Sigfrid Fortun asked Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 to deny the petition of the prosecution to drop the name of accused Bong Andal from the list of suspects tagged in the massacre.

The defense argued that there is “no absolute necessity” for the testimony of Andal since the prosecution has already presented four eyewitnesses “who had completely testified on the planning and implementation of the massacre.”

“Here, not only were there four eyewitness accounts, there was a judicial declaration that the testimonies of ordinary witnesses were enough,” they added, referring to Nuruddin Mauyag, Rasul Sangki, Esmael Kanapia, and Lakmodin Saliao, who identified some members of the Ampatuan clan as perpetrators of the massacre.

In their comment, the defense panel cited earlier rulings stating that an accused may not be discharged if “his testimony would simply corroborate or otherwise strengthen the evidence in the hands of the prosecution.”

They added that Andal could not be excluded from the charges because he “purportedly fled and almost successfully evaded arrest” for more than three years since the commission of the crime.

Andal was arrested on Nov. 24, 2012 in Midsayap, North Cotabato in an entrapment operation conducted jointly by the local police and the Army’s 40th Infantry Battalion.

He earlier sought the protection from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and has since been admitted to the witness protection program.

Solis-Reyes has allowed him to remain in Camp Crame following the motion of the prosecution, which said Andal’s life would be in danger if he “will be confined at the detention facility where he will co-mingle with the other accused against whom he wishes to testify.”

The rest of the accused – including Ampatuan clan patriarch Andal Sr. and his sons Zaldy and Andal Jr. – are currently detained at the Quezon City Jail-Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.