By ELLEN TORDESILLAS
A KEY witness in the Maguindanao massacre who was refused protection by the Department of Justice was killed 10 days ago.
Lawyer Harry Roque, counsel for 14 of the 57 victims of the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre, said three sources confirmed the killing of Suwaid Upham, one of the seven gunmen, who had wanted to testify against the Ampatuans.
Roque said Upham, who was given the alias “Jessie” by reporters, was shot in the poblacion (town center) of Parang, Maguindanao on June 14, nine days before the 7th anniversary of the massacre that shocked the world and reinforced the Philippines’ reputation as the most dangerous place for journalists.
“I put the blame for the death of ‘Jessie’ on Secretary Alberto Agra and his principal, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who refused to accord him any protection. There is blood in Agra and Mrs. Arroyo’s hands. May they forever by haunted by the souls of Jessie and the rest of the victims of the massacre,” Roque said.
Roque, who was the one who requested that ‘Jessie’ be put under the DOJ’s Witness Protection Program, said, “He was never interviewed by the DOJ despite our having previously arranged twice for him to be interviewed by a panel from the Department.”
Roque said the initial and first interview was supposed to have been conducted at the office and in the presence of Chair Leila de Lima of the Commission on Human Rights, who is the incoming justice secretary.
The personnel of the Witness Protection Program did not, however, appear on the agreed time and date stating belatedly that “Jessie” should appear in the premises of the DOJ, Roque said.
But ‘Jessie” refused to appear in the DOJ premises because he himself had gotten word that high-ranking officials of the Department were working with the Ampatuans.
DOJ Secretary Agra would later dismiss the cases against Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan but reversed his position due to strong public pressure.
In media interviews in a Metro Manila safehouse, “Jessie” said he was a close-in bodyguard of Datu Kanor, cousin of former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. He said he was privy to the planning of the Nov 23 massacre as he was just two meters away from the perpetrators.
He admitted being one of seven gunmen who shot and killed 58 victims of the Maguindanao massacre, 32 of them journalists
He identified the others as, among others, Andal Jr.; his cousins Kanor Ampatuan, Ban Ampatuan, and Mama Ampatuan, PO1 Ando Masukat and one he knew only as Kudja.
“Jessie” publicly stated that members of the Ampatuan clan including Former Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and ARRM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan ordered the killings.
Jessie also related that among the first to be killed was the wife of Maguindanao Governor-Elect Toto Mangundadatu, Genalyn. He stated that after the first batch of killings, Unsay then ordered all seven gunmen to fire indiscriminately at all members of the ill-fated convoy, many of whom were still in their vehicles.
He also recounted how victims pleaded for their lives. Jessie also positively identified at least four members of the media as among the fatalities of the massacre.
Weeks after the massacre “Jessie” also said he killed the driver of Datu Kanor upon orders of Andal Jr. who was then already in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation.
‘Jessie” said he escaped from the Ampatuan’s jurisdiction when he learned that Andal had ordered his killing. Through an non-government organization, he contacted Roque last March.
Roque said for a while “Jessie” was under the protection of a religious group. He had to leave when armed men raided the seminary.
Frustrated by the refusal of DOJ to put him under the WPP, “Jessie” returned to Maguindanao last April.
In his interview with international television network Al Jazeera, Jessie recalled how Andal Jr. boasted to his men before surrendering to authorities, that he would soon be set free. “Walang magyayari sa kaso nila. Kaya ng pera namin silang lahat (Nothing will happen to their case. Our money can buy all of them),” he said.