‘Ampatuan witness credible’

MANILA, Philippines - The lawyer of Maguindanao massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. yesterday said the admission of a defense witness that he used a fake identification card to enter the court premises strengthened the credibility of his testimony.

In a phone interview with The STAR, defense counsel Salvador Panelo said the admission of Nickardo Abdullah Malang that he used a bogus ID proves that he has no qualms in telling the truth before the court.

“He did not lie when he was asked about his ID,” Panelo said.

“Malang does not have any ID… He was merely complying with the summons of the court to appear during the hearing,” the lawyer added.

Malang testified on the supposed lies of prosecution star witness Lakmodin Saliao, who tagged the Ampatuans as the masterminds of the massacre.

Last week, private prosecutors Nena Santos and Maria Gemma Oquendo filed charges of falsification and usurpation of authority against Malang before the Taguig City prosecutor’s office for using a Department of Interior and Local Government ID that misrepresented himself as a barangay secretary.

The witness had admitted in court that the ID was “prepared” for him by his friends. The defense presented Malang as witness during the hearing on Ampatuan’s petition for bail on Feb. 26.

In his testimony, Malang said his middle name should be “Abdullah” and not “Uy” as stated in his affidavit.

During cross-examination, the prosecution learned that the ID that he presented upon entering the jail facility bears the name Nickardo Uy Malang.

Upon further questioning, Malang admitted that he is not a barangay secretary and the ID he presented to jail officers was fake.