Another witness in Maguindanao massacre case killed, says prosecution lawyer

Another witness in the Maguindanao massacre, Esmail Amil Enog, has been brutally murdered, according to private prosecutor Nena Santos.

MANILA, Philippines—A former militiaman who was a state witness in the Maguindanao massacre case has been brutally murdered, his body reportedly cut to pieces, according to a private prosecutor.

Esmail Amil Enog, who testified at the trial in July last year, had been missing for two months before Maguindanao police confirmed his murder, said lawyer Nena Santos.

“We have informed the court that he has been killed. Chinop-chop.  Parang chainsaw massacre,” Santos said.

She said another possible witness, Alijol Ampatuan, who was mentioned by Enog in his testimony, was also feared to have been killed. Alijol is a distant relative of the Ampatuans who are the main accused in the massacre.

Santos said Enog was not included in the government witness protection program because he did not want to be confined to a government safe house.

Enog was reportedly killed in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao. The prosecutors initially heard about it two weeks ago, Santos said.

“We are now waiting for the full report from the police. Maybe some of the accused he was to identify decided to finally silence him,” she said.

In his July 28, 2011, testimony, Enog told the court that on the orders of his immediate superior, Alijol Ampatuan, he drove 36 armed men in two batches to Malating, Ampatuan town, the site of the massacre, on the morning of Nov. 23, 2009, the day of the killings.

He positively identified the four accused who were present in court—Mohamad Datumanong, alias Nicomedes Tolentino; Tato Tampogao; and Mohades and Misuari Ampatuan—as among the armed men he had driven in a truck from the house of Kanor Ampatuan in Shariff Aguak to the massacre site.

He also testified that on returning to Shariff Aguak, he heard gunshots ring out “for about an hour” from the direction of Ampatuan town at around noon that day. Other witnesses had testified that the massacre that left 57 dead happened around 11 a.m.

However, Enog failed to identify in court Moktar Daud, an alleged aide of Ampatuan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr.

Defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun also tried to destroy Enog’s credibility by noting that the witness could not present an identification card, birth certificate or driver’s license.