Zaldy Ampatuan wants to jump ship
MANILA, Philippines—Suspended Governor Zaldy Ampatuan is willing to testify against his father Andal Ampatuan Sr., and his siblings in connection with the Maguindanao massacre that left 57 people dead, including 31 journalists, and one still missing.
Ampatuan’s wife Johaira said her husband of 17 years sent feelers to the Department of Justice (DoJ) that he is willing to testify.
“Not all Ampatuans are monsters,” Johaira said. “We also condemn the massacre. We also want the real perpetrators to answer their crimes.”
The suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), in an interview over ABS CBN, said he is willing to tell all he knows, and does not care if his father and brothers “will get mad at him.”
Zaldy Ampatuan has a pending petition with the Court of Appeals asking that it reinstate the April 2010 resolution of the DoJ absolving him from the Maguindanao massacre case.
He said the resolution dated May 5, 2010 reinstating him as an accused violated his right to due process because he was not given the opportunity to raise arguments against the testimony of the prosecution’s new witness.
He pointed out that the reliance by the DoJ on the testimony of the new witness was a violation of the rules adopted by the DoJ on the admissibility of new evidence on appeal.
Zaldy has been has been detained in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig along with his father Andal Ampatuan Sr., brother Andal Ampatuan Jr. and other co-accused for almost two years now.
The DoJ investigating prosecutors included him in the multiple murder cases based on a testimony of a lone witness presented by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). He was not included in the original criminal charge sheet that was based on the investigation conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The April 16 resolution by the DoJ excluded Zaldy Ampatuan from the multiple murder case, saying there was no probable cause against him.
In reversing the order of the investigating prosecutors and excluding Zaldy Ampatuan from the multiple murder charges, then Justice Secretary Alberto Agra noted that the latter was able to sufficiently establish that he was in Davao City from Nov. 20, 2009 up to the early morning of Nov. 23, 2009 when he flew to Manila. The following day he flew from Manila to Cotabato, contrary to the testimony of the NBI witness Kenny Dalandag.
Agra pointed out that the improbability of Zaldy Ampatuan being at either the clan’s Nov. 22, 2009 meeting, or the following day’s crime scene. This was evidenced by the certification from the Philippine Airlines that he was a passenger of Flight No. PR 811 on Nov. 20, 2009 from Manila to Davao City. A PAL e-ticket showed he was a passenger of Flight No. 810 from Davao City to Manila last Nov. 23, 2009, and also of Flight No. PR 187 last Nov. 24 from Manila to Cotabato.
Agra also noted Zaldy Ampatuan’s Smart Infinity statement of account that proved that the former ARMM governor was in Davao del Sur (where Davao City is located) from Nov. 20, 2009 up to the early morning of Nov. 23, 2009 when he left for Manila.
But the April 16, 2010 DoJ resolution was met with public condemnation, a hostile media reaction, and the so-called “mutiny” by members of the DoJ’s panel of prosecutors.
