Mangudadatu wishes guilty verdict for major suspects in Maguindanao massacre

Maguindanao Representative Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, whose wife and sisters died in the Ampatuan massacre on November 23, 2009, wants every major suspect in the gruesome killing of 58 people to be convicted.

"I hope 100 percent of the major suspects will be convicted... Please give us the justice that we are seeking for. Ten years is enough and I hope that the one month extension, before December 20 makakalabas na sana 'yung resolution na magko-convict sa kanila," Mangudadatu said at a press conference in Quezon City on Thursday, just two days shy of the massacre's 10th anniversary.

Asked for his reaction if former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan, a primary suspect, would get acquitted, Mangudadatu said: "No, I cannot accept."

On November 23, 2009, Mangudadatu lost 20 family members and supporters, including his wife, who were on their way to file his certificate of candidacy for the 2010 elections when they were ambushed by armed men at Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

These men, most of whom were members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit, along with local policemen, were allegedly working under orders from the powerful Ampatuan clan, a member of which Mangudadatu was going up against in the gubernatorial race.

Thirty-two journalists and six other motorists who were not part of the convoy also died in the incident.

"According to witnesses, before the execution has happened, there was a preliminary planning long before the massacre—the slaughtering of my wife and other relatives, and my dear friends—there was a plan involving Zaldy, the old man, among the family [of Ampatuan]," the congressman added.

Mangudadatu said that a decade after the death of his loved ones, the pain and the void in his heart still remain.

"The gunshot wound that bore the body of my wife were 17 gunshot wounds including the one hack. 'Yun bang barilin ang suso ng asawa mo, including her private part, pwede ba 'yun?" he said.

"Hindi pwede 'yun na pakawalan lang at basta-basta ko lang makalimutan, that I can easily forgive. I cannot easily forget those foolishness done by this family," he added.

Zaldy Ampatuan, who is among the 197 accused for what was considered to be the worst election-related violence and single deadly attack on journalists in the country, is currently confined in a hospital after suffering from a stroke in October.

Lawyer Nena Santos, private prosecutor for the Maguindanao massacre case, said that Ampatuan's hospitalization has no bearing on the anticipated decision of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes.

"There's none. When a suspected person, the accused, even when the person is convicted, when they are sick they are allowed to go to hospital," Santos said.

The Supreme Court gave Reyes until December 20, with no extension, to render a decision on the multiple murder cases filed in connection with the death of 58 people nearly a decade ago.

Reyes was supposed to promulgate a judgment on or before November 20 but requested an extension due to the "voluminous" records of the case.

Santos said that the prosecution is optimistic about the upcoming promulgation.

"We believe we have presented enough witnesses and evidence to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt but of course the final judgment depends on the judge," she said.

"We are hoping that an earlier decision has already been drafted and that by December 5 supposedly we will receive a notice of when promulgation of judgement will be done between December 5 and 20 but it can be earlier," she added.

Out of the 197 accused, 101 are in detention while 81 remain at large and yet to be arraigned, Santos said.

Others have died, including clan patriarch and former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. who succumbed to liver cancer in 2015, while some cases against a handful had been dismissed.

"When the verdict comes out, it's not the time to lay low again because there are still 81 who are still at large and if they will be apprehended then a new trial will begin again," Santos pointed out.

"And there is yet to be resolved by the DOJ the 50 respondents who are the second batch of participants of the massacre," she added.

The resolution for this second batch of respondents is expected to come out after the decision of the nine-year trial is released, Santos said. — MDM, GMA News