MANILA – A witness testified in court on Wednesday that he saw the scion of a powerful and influential clan fire the first shot in the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province, Mindanao on November 23.
Rasul Sangki, the vice mayor of Ampatuan town, Maguindanao told the court he saw Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay town start the killing by firing shots from a high-powered gun at the victims.
Sangki also implicated the clan patriarch, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan, to the massacre.
He revealed that before the massacre, he heard Mayor Ampatuan talking over a two-way radio with a person whom he had addressed as “Ama,†(Father), apparently referring to the patriarch.
According to Sangki, he heard “Ama†telling Mayor Ampatuan, “Ikaw na ang bahala (You take care of it).â€.
Sangki was the first witness presented by government lawyers during the resumption of the trial of the multiple murder charges filed against Mayor Ampatuan, the principal suspect in the massacre.
But the lawyers pointed out they presented Sangki to oppose the petition of the defense for the court to grant bail to Mayor Ampatuan, who claimed the evidence against their client is weak.
As before, security was tight inside and outside the makeshift courtroom at the headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in suburban Quezon City, Metro Manila. The trial is presided over by Quezon City Regional Court Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes.
Mayor Ampatuan was present inside the courtroom to hear Sangki give a graphic description and provide gory details as an eyewitness to the massacre.
But as he listened, the accused appeared to be unconcerned and showed no emotion during the testimony of Sanki, a relative of the Ampatuans.
Sangki also disclosed that when Mayor Ampatuan started shooting at the victims, he was joined by his uncle Kanor Ampatuan, the vice mayor of the town of Salibo, who was similarly armed with high-powered gun.
In one instance, Sangki said he and saw and heard one of the journalists, whom he identified as Jimmy Pal-ap, approach Mayor Ampatuan to plead for his life.
He said he did not see the reaction of Mayor Ampatuan because his back was turned to him. Nevertheless, he said he later learned that Pal-ap was one the victims whose body was recovered from a mass grave dug out by a back hoe belonging to the Maguindanao provincial government.
Sangki also insisted that while he was present, he did not participate in the massacre. He said Mayor Ampatuan later ordered him to leave the massacre site to tell the people in the area that “they saw nothing and heard nothing.â€
During a break in the hearing, Esmael Mangundadatu, the vice mayor of Buluan town in Maguindanao and the scion of a rival clan, was allowed to leave the courtroom, saying he could not bear to hear Sangki provide more gory details of the massacre.
Mangundadatu’s wife, his two sisters and their two women lawyers as well as 30 Mindanao-based journalists were among the 57 massacre victims.
Mangundadatu earlier told the police the victims were on their way in a convoy of five vehicles to the capital of Shariff Aguak to file his certificate of candidacy for governor before the Commission on Elections when they were abducted and massacred on November 23.
Sangki was at the witness stand for more than five hours as he was questioned by government lawyers and the defense since the trial started at 8:30 am Wednesday.
During the direct cross-examination, defense lawyers tried to puncture his testimony as they concentrated on Sanki’s admission that he was present when Mayor Ampatuan and several others planned the ambush on November 20
They asked why Sangki did not report to the police or the military of the planned ambush since he had prior knowledge.
However, Sangki answered he feared for his life and that of his family since the Ampatuans have a stranglehold of Maguindanao, including the police and the military “whom he did not trust.â€
Photo snapshot courtesy from Inquirer.net
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