Ampatuan kin ambushed

MANILA, Philippines - A close relative of the Ampatuans, accused of masterminding the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, was wounded in an ambush on Wednesday, weeks after he said he would testify against the primary suspects in the multiple murder case.

Datu Akmad Baganian Ampatuan, former mayor of Datu Salibo town in Maguindanao, sustained a gunshot wound in his arm following the supposed ambush in Guindulungan town around 2 p.m.

Private prosecutor Prima Jesusa Quinsayas, in a text message to The STAR, said Ampatuan is a nephew of clan patriarch and former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.

The elder Ampatuan, along with some of his sons and grandsons, were charged with multiple murder and are on trial for the Maguindanao massacre.

Akmad Baganian is different from Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan, the son-in-law of Andal Sr. who is currently detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City for the same charges.

According to Quinsayas, Akmad Baganian expressed his intention to testify against his relatives in the Maguindanao massacre trial. A copy of the affidavit he executed is with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, the lawyer said.

He has yet to be presented as a prosecution witness in the four-year trial.

In a statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has condemned the latest attack against another prosecution witness.

The alleged ambush came on the heels of a similar incident last month, which injured prosecution witness Butch Saudagal. The same attack killed Denex Sakal, whom the prosecution and the defense both claim as their witness.

“The most recent incidents appear to be the offshoot of an ongoing tug-of-war over witnesses, with both defense and prosecution claiming Sakal as their own and reports alleging that Akmad (Baganian) had threatened Sakal in an attempt to have him jump ship from the defense,” NUJP chairperson Rowena Paraan said in her statement.

The NUJP chairperson was referring to the blotters released by defense lawyer Salvador Panelo, which stated that Akmad Baganian had threatened Sakal.

Another blotter released by Panelo alleged that Akmad Baganian also threatened another prospective defense witness, Nellymar Sali, to testify against the Ampatuans. Sali was killed in an ambush in Maguindanao last month.

Because of the deaths of Sakal and Sali, Panelo has asked the court to give him more time to look for more witnesses. He was supposed to start presenting evidence for the bail petition of Andal Ampatuan Jr. this month.

But in opposing Panelo’s request, private prosecutor Nena Santos noted that the blotters released by Panelo were taken in the municipality of Datu Unsay, in which the wife of Andal Jr. is the mayor.

“It is common knowledge how co-opted are the (police) personnel in the Ampatuan-controlled municipalities as shown in how (they) were used as conspirators in the setting up of checkpoints and abduction that led to the massacre of 58 people,” said Santos.

The court has yet to rule on the motion of the defense lawyer.