| Witnesses surface in Maguindanao massacre |
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| by Allen V Estabillo/MindaNews | |
| Friday, 27 November 2009 21:38 | |
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GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / November 27) – Seven witnesses have reportedly surfaced to back up the multiple murder complaint filed Thursday before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao, tagged as the principal suspect in the gruesome killing of at least 57 people in the outskirts of Ampatuan town last Monday. Buluan, Maguindanao Vice Mayor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu said three more witnesses have come out lately to corroborate the statements of four other witnesses who reportedly survived or escaped the November 23 carnage in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.Mangudadatu earlier said the four alleged survivors confirmed the direct involvement of the Mayor Ampatuan in the killing of at least 30 journalists, two lawyers, several civilians and over a dozen members of the Mangudadatu family that included his wife Genalin, sister Bai Farina and sister-in-law Vice Mayor Eden of Mangudadatu town. Mayor Ampatuan is currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation jail in Manila after he voluntarily turned himself in to Presidential Adviser for Mindanao Jesus Dureza. He was placed on inquest proceeding in General Santos City Thursday afternoon. Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera facilitated the proceedings and gave Ampatuan Jr. 36 hours to answer the multiple murder charges against him. Ampatuan was accompanied by his lawyer Siegfred Fortun. “We’ll not stop until we get proper justice for all the victims and we have witnesses that could prove the involvement (of the Ampatuans) in that inhuman act,” Mangudadatu said. Sources said the witnesses, who were reportedly being secured by the Vice Mayor’s camp, have already given their statements to investigators from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). Former Defense Chief and now Lakas-Kampi Presidential bet Gilbert Teodoro offered protection to the witnesses when he met them at an undisclosed place in Koronadal City Friday. Teodoro and several other party mates from South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces earlier accompanied Vice Mayor Mangudadatu Friday in filing his certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governor in the May 2010 elections at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao. On Monday, the Mangudadatus lost several of their members, mostly women, when armed men stopped the their convoy that was also composed by two female lawyers and members of the media and later killed them. The convoy was slated to file the Vice Mayor's certificate of candidacy in Shariff Aguak, the capital town of Maguindanao. The town is a known bailiwick of the Ampatuans. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews) Share this story through the following Social Media sites:            |
