Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu AP PHOTO/BULLIT MARQUEZ
Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu on Thursday affirmed that his wife had told him in their last phone conversation that armed men led by Andal Ampatuan Jr. had abducted her and 56 others before all were found brutally murdered on a hill outside Ampatuan town, Maguindanao, three years ago.
Testifying at the trial of the Maguindanao massacre case for nearly four hours Thursday, Mangudadatu dismissed suggestions from the defense camp that he was the primary beneficiary of the killings—and may even have been responsible for them. His wife, Bai Genalyn, and other female relatives were among the dead.
“My wife called me through the phone and said they had been abducted by Unsay Ampatuan,” Mangudadatu told the court, referring to Ampatuan by his nickname Unsay.
Mangudadatu’s wife and the others, including 32 members of the media, were on their way to Shariff Aguak to file the certificate of candidacy for governor of the then Buluan vice mayor when their convoy was stopped by armed men on the morning of Nov. 23, 2009 and all were killed.
In his cross-examination of the governor on Thursday, defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun tried to punch holes in his testimony.
He asked Mangudadatu for the phone numbers of his wife and two relatives, which the governor could no longer remember.
Fortun also asked Mangudadatu about discrepancies in the complaint he filed against the Ampatuans and the direct testimony he gave in court about his last conversation with his wife.
The defense lawyer noted that Mangudadatu had said in his affidavit that his wife had told him Unsay had around 100 armed men with him when the convoy was stopped.
“[But] there was no mention of the number of people involved [in Mangudadatu’s direct testimony],” Fortun said.
He also noted that in his affidavit, Mangudadatu recalled that his wife’s last words were: “Unsay is near, I was slapped,” while in his direct testimony, the governor quoted his wife as saying: “Unsay is here, Unsay is here.”
“Being here and coming are two different things,” Fortun said. Mangudadatu replied that the two meant about the same.
Private prosecutor Prima Quinsayas then vehemently objected after defense lawyer Andres Manuel implied in his cross that the governor had benefited from the massacre.
Fortun had presented a military intelligence report, which was part of the prosecution evidence, that said around 40 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters were spotted near the massacre site and that they were supposedly Mangudadatu supporters.
Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes had that portion stricken from the court record because it was not part of Mangudadatu’s direct testimony.
“It’s a deep insult that he gained from the death of the 57 people. The implication, Your Honor, is that he was behind the massacre. He is not the accused here,” Quinsayas said.