CA nixes Andal Jr.’s plea vs state witness

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Appeals (CA) has disapproved a petition by Maguindanao massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to turn state witness Abdul Talusan into one of the accused in the case.

The CA’s decision, issued Nov. 18, was written by Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda. Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and Associate Justice Ramon Bato Jr. concurred.

Ampatuan, a former mayor of Datu Unsay town, is one of nearly 200 people charged in the murder of 58 persons, more than half of them members of media, on Nov. 23, 2009.

The DOJ said it has yet to receive a complaint-affidavit implicating Talusan in the massacre and cannot indict him as one of the accused in the case.

The CA said when it reviewed Talusan’s sworn affidavit executed on April 22, 2010, it appeared that there was no sufficient evidence to indict him as a participant in the Maguindanao massacre.

“Talusan merely narrated his alleged knowledge of the plan of petitioner-appellant and other co-accused to commit the crimes. There was nary a proof of his actual participation in the said carnage,” the appellate court said in its decision.

In his affidavit, Talusan corroborated the testimony of another prosecution witness, Kenny Dalandag, stating that Ampatuan and several members of his clan were present during a meeting at the house of former Maguindanao governor and clan patriarch Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr. 

The massacre was reportedly planned during this meeting, the two witnesses alleged.