Ampatuan bagman details payoffs to suspects

MANILA, Philippines - A former bagman of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. has revealed details on the alleged payoffs given to the leaders and members of the police and civilian volunteer organizations (CVOs) tagged in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

In a seven-page affidavit submitted last week to the Quezon City court handling the multiple murder case, witness Kaharudin Nabadtong Saudagal alleged that Ampatuan ordered him to pay various individuals who attended a supposed meeting to plan the massacre.

Saudagal was the prospective prosecution witness injured in an ambush in Maguindanao on Nov. 24.

The same incident killed Denex Sacal, whom the prosecution and defense panels both claim as their respective witness.

The affidavit of Saudagal was attached in the prosecution comment opposing the request of defense lawyer Salvador Panelo, counsel for Ampatuan, to move the scheduled presentation of defense evidence to February.

Saudagal claimed Ampatuan ordered him to give former Sultan sa Barongis vice mayor Sukarno Badal and all the police commanders who attended the meeting P20,000 each.

In his affidavit, Saudagal alleged that he was also ordered to give “leaders” P10,000 as budget for their plan to murder then Buluan vice mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, who was set to run against a member of the Ampatuan clan for the gubernatorial post.

Mangudadatu sent his wife, female relatives, lawyers and staff to file the certificate of candidacy on his behalf. Members of the media also accompanied the convoy, which was stopped by allegedly more than a hundred men and were brutally murdered in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao.

A total of 58 people, including 32 media practitioners, died in the Nov. 23, 2009 incident.

Saudagal also claimed that he was asked to pay each CVO P3,000 and then-Maguindanao provincial police second-in-command Inspector Sukardo Dicay P150,000.

In his affidavit, Saudagal named a number of police officers and CVOs allegedly involved in the planning and commission of the crime.

If admitted by the court, his testimony could prove beneficial for the prosecution panel, which recently suffered a huge blow after the court granted the bail petition of 40 police officers.

In her ruling on the bail petition, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes said the evidence presented against the accused police officers is not enough to warrant their continued detention.

Meanwhile, Solis-Reyes ruled to deny the bail petition filed by Dicay.

The prosecutors have appealed the granting of the bail of the police officers, while Dicay is appealing the ruling on the denial of his bail plea. The court has yet to rule on the motions for reconsideration.