By JOSEPH HOLANDES UBALDE
Interaksyon.com
WILL Zaldy Ampatuan, one of the prime suspects in the gruesome murder of 58 people in the 2009 Ampatuan Massacre, take the witness stand to turn against his kin?
Talks are rife that the suspended ARMM governor has been secretly talking with his lawyers to break his silence about the case and pinpoint his father Andal Ampatuan Sr. and brother Andal Jr. as the real masterminds behind the murders.
Zaldy, who has yet to be arraigned, had been reportedly seeking this option to lessen his punishment should he be convicted of the 57 counts of murder charged against him and 196 others implicated in the case.
Although 58 persons in all died, only 57 counts of murder have been filed because the body of one of the victims, photojournalist Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay, has yet to be found.
Although his camp has repeatedly denied this, the worsening relationship between him and his father had fuelled talks that Zaldy is willing to turn his back against his family.
“The two are not talking,” said Senior Inspector Edgar Camus, who stands as the Quezon City Jail Annex jail warden.
Camus said Zaldy and the senior Ampatuan have been staying in separate jail cells. Andal Sr. is locked up with his sons—Andal Jr. and Sajid—while Zaldy is sharing the cell with other criminals.
Despite this, Redemberto Villanueva, Zaldy’s legal counsel, debunked the rumors.
“There’s no truth to this, he has nothing to do with the case,” Villanueva said in Filipino. “He can’t be an eyewitness or any kind of witness for that matter.”
On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she has yet to receive an application for the state’s Witness Protection Program for Zaldy. Under the program, the state will assure the witness’ security and will be taken to an undisclosed location. The charges against the witness may also be dropped.
The Ampatuans allegedly ordered the Nov. 23, 2009 attack on the convoy of their political rival Toto Mangudadatu, who asked his wife and two sisters to file his certificate of candidacy in Shariff Aguak, a known Ampatuan stronghold.
About 100 gunmen allegedly attacked the convoy that included 32 journalists. Some of the bodies were then buried in a nearby pit and was covered in soil using a government-owned backhoe. This incident has been called the deadliest attack on journalists by the international community.