Andal Jr., 16 others plead not guilty

MANILA, Philippines – Former Maguindanao vice mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and 16 others yesterday pleaded not guilty yesterday to a 57th murder charge in connection with the Nov. 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

Ampatuan, a namesake of the Ampatuan clan patriarch, has been arraigned earlier for the 56 counts of murder. The latest charge pertains to UNTV’s Victor Nuñez, whose body has just been recently identified.

The others who also pleaded not guilty are Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay, Senior Inspector Abdulgapor Abad, Police Officer 1 Michael Macarongon, PO3 Rasid Anton, Takpan Dilon, Esmael Canapia, PO2 Hernanie Decipulo Jr., PO2 Saudiar Ulah, PO2 Saudi Pasutan, PO1 Herich Amaba, PO1 Esprielito Lejarso, PO1 Rainer Ebus, Inspector Rex Ariel Diongon, Inspector Michael Joy Macaraeg, PO1 Pia Kamidon, and Muhamad Sangki.

Meanwhile, Dicay said he has already applied to become state witness. He said he is confident that his testimony will pin down the masterminds of the killing.

Private prosecutor Nena Santos said they are hoping that Dicay’s application will be approved. “Dicay was there from start to end. He was the one manning the checkpoints where the victims were flagged down. Dicay is all,” she said.

Dicay claimed that his and his family’s lives will be at stake once he testifies “but if that is the only way for the truth to come out I will do it.”

The readings of charges against four others – Senior Inspector Abdulgapor Abad, PO1 Michael Macarongon, Maot Dumla, and Thong Guimano – have been deferred.

Ampatuan allegedly led more than 100 policemen in attacking a convoy led by the wife of their rival politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, last Nov. 23. The members of the convoy were on their way to file Mangudadatu’s candidacy for governor of Maguindanao.

During the arraignment, Judge Jocelyn Reyes of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 announced that the hearing for Ampatuan’s petition for bail will be scheduled next week.

She said she has to first resolve all the motions filed before her court, including the latest motion of Ampatuan’s lawyer, Sigfrid Fortun, asking her to inhibit from the case.

The prosecutors and even a lawyer from the defense panel slammed Fortun’s sixth motion for inhibition as another “dilatory tactic.”

“That’s an abuse of judicial remedy. We will study our options so we could put a stop to that,” said prosecutor Prima Quimsaya.

Lawyer Marlon Pagaduan, who is representing several policemen implicated in the massacre, said he does “not see the need for Reyes to inhibit herself.”

“She has been a fair judge as far as I’m concerned and changing her would further delay the hearings,” he said.

In a related development, police officers in Maguindanao province dispersed yesterday 15 teams of covert operatives to track down the 134 suspects who are still at large.

Superintendent Alex Lineses, intelligence director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police, said their renewed manhunt is closely supervised by their regional director, Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, and Senior Superintendent Benito Estipona of the Task Force Maguindanao.

Among those being hunted by the police and military now are three grandchildren of Andal Ampatuan Sr., two of them former mayors, who were among 197 key suspects in the massacre.

One Ampatuan grandchild implicated in the carnage has reportedly been moving from one safehouse to another in Zamboanga City and the island province of Sulu.

Lineses, who was former Maguindanao provincial police director, said one of the objective of their operation is to haul the suspects to jail as early as possible so as not to endanger the lives of potential witnesses to the massacre.

Estipona said of the 134 fugitives, 96 of them are civilian volunteer organization members; 23 are members of the Ampatuan clan and its allies; 12 are policemen; and four are Army soldiers.

Lineses said some of the suspects are just moving around the towns of Shariff Aguak, Ampatuan, Mamasapano and Datu Unsay, all in the second district of Maguindanao.

“The problem is they are so mobile and people are so scared of them that they are too reluctant to help us arrest them. They are so afraid of possible reprisals,” Lineses said.   – With John Unson