Accused in Maguindanao massacre case says he’ s wrong person

MANILA, Philippines – A civilian among the 196 accused in the Maguindanao massacre has asked a Quezon City court to review the charges, claiming he wasn’t the same person identified in indictment.

Saying he is not the Kasim T. Lingkong referred to in the amended information for multiple murder, Abdulkadir Saludin said his real identity must first be established before he would be indicted, if ever.

His motion for judicial determination for probable cause was filed by his lawyer Abdul Hatiz Tan Adil Jr. before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Regional Trial Court Branch 221.

“Since no preliminary investigation has been conducted with respect to the movant, his right thereto is hereby invoked through this motion for judicial determination for probable cause, primarily hinged on the determination of his exact identity,” the motion said.

Saludin maintained that he was not Lingkong and that the indictment did not include his name or any of Lingkong’s aliases.

“The identity of the accused should be primarily established before he is indicted and held for trial, worse put into the bar of public embarrassment for a crime he was not involved in the first place,” the motion said.

Aside from seeking a judicial review of the existence of probable cause, the accused asked to be released from detention as he filed a property bond in a North Cotabato court.

Records showed that he was also facing a case before RTC Branch 18 in Midsayap, North Cotabato and that he had posted a property bond for his temporary liberty.

Prosecutors in that case tried to have the information amended to include Lingkong as an alias, which the defense opposed as this would link him to the Maguindanao massacre.

The Cotabato court initially granted the amendment but in a reconsideration of its earlier order, the court ruled in November 2011 that the amendment was disallowed in the original information.

Saludin said the jail warden of the North Cotabato District Jail refused to release him because he was also charged in the Maguindanao massacre case.

His wife later filed a petition for habeas corpus with RTC Branch 24 in Cotabato. That court later ordered the jail warden to release Saludin in an order dated Jan. 30.

However, Saludin was transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa in February where the other accused are detained by virtue of a commitment order issued by the Quezon City court.

The accused’s lawyer maintained that his client and Lingkong were not the same person, even attaching photos and a tarpaulin of the wanted Maguindanao massacre suspects.

Adil added that in the hearings for the habeas corpus petition, the two people who had sworn that Lingkong and Saludin were one person did not show up when summoned in court.

“His detention on the basis of unsubstantiated affidavits cannot be sustained or countenanced on the mere certification of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group,” the motion said.

The defense noted that the amended information for multiple murder before RTC Branch 221 did not include Saludin’s name.

The accused is one of 196 charged for the deaths of 57 people on Nov. 23, 2009 in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao province.