Saying his powerful family had “ruined” his life, former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan implicated his father Andal Sr. and brother Andal Jr. in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.
In an embargoed TV interview aired Monday, Zaldy said he was “willing to testify and speak the truth, even if my testimony will involve my father and brother,” in connection with the country’s worst political violence that left 57 civilians dead, including 32 media workers.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima maintained, however, that “we don’t need him at this point,” while Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said Zaldy had “nothing to add to what we already know.”
“Zaldy is not the interest of the government,” Robredo said in a radio interview. “Our interest is justice.”
Robredo said Zaldy had told him his part of the story, but that “if the objective is to unmask the masterminds, it is not enough.’’
Zaldy said Andal Jr. had planned the murders and that the Ampatuan patriarch was present in two meetings concerning the plot days before the Nov. 23, 2009, massacre.
“They ruined my life,” Zaldy was quoted as saying in an ABS-CBN report. “Because of what happened, I have been greatly affected, including my work, family and other innocent people. I don’t like what they did.”
He had signed an affidavit attesting to his father’s and brother’s roles in the murders, the report added.
Held in detention with other coaccused at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, Zaldy said it had been more than three months since he last spoke with his father and brother.
Zaldy also vented some frustrations with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, saying the longtime ally of the Ampatuan clan could personally attest to his innocence.
“I hope you tell the public where I was when the Maguindanao incident happened. We were together and you came to see us,” he said in a message to the former President and now Pampanga representative.
Embargo
The Inquirer learned that Zaldy was interviewed by ABS-CBN, GMA News and the Al Jazeera network two weeks ago and that his lawyers requested an embargo.
Zaldy’s statements were contrary to the position taken by his lawyers who last week denied persistent talk that their client was willing to turn against his coaccused family members.
Lawyer Kristine Esguerra then said the former governor’s turning state witness “will be impossible since it will mean he is the least guilty or somewhat guilty.”
She said the governor had maintained his innocence of the crime and played no role in the massacre “from conception to execution.”
An Inquirer source then also said Malacañang was cool to Zaldy’s feelers on his willingness to testify for the prosecution.
The source claimed that Zaldy’s lawyers had met informally with government officials in the past weeks to brief them on what he was willing to say in court, and that the former governor’s gambit was an effort to save the family legacy.
State evidence
The government, however, wanted Zaldy to leave nothing out in his testimony and to identify all of the family’s ill-gotten assets as well as the deals hatched between the family and its patron, then President Arroyo, the source said.
De Lima clarified that the government had not talked to Zaldy regarding the possibility of his turning state witness.
“We should be very discerning and circumspect. We cannot just be taking (his) word for (it),” she told reporters.
De Lima said Zaldy’s statements absolving himself while pinning down his father and brother were contrary to the testimonies given by other prosecution witnesses.
The Ampatuans’ former househelp, Lakmodin “Laks” Saliao, for example, has pointed to Zaldy as one of those who planned the gruesome killings, she recalled.
“It is in fact contradictory to what our witnesses have so far said and then we also have evidence (against Zaldy). So we don’t need him at this point,” De Lima said.
Robredo visit
De Lima said that Robredo had admitted talking to Zaldy during his surprise visit at the Ampatuans’ detention cells to check on reports that the family was getting special treatment.
“That was the first time the matter was brought up. Zaldy offered many other things but on the matter of being discharged as a state witness, I can categorically say that there’s none,” De Lima said.
Zaldy’s wife Johaira on Monday said that her husband was prepared to “tell all” about the massacre even if it means turning against his family. However, she said that Zaldy did not tell her details.
“What he told me was that he was willing to identify the perpetrators. If those involved were his relatives, he said he will tell the truth and testify in court,” she said.
Surname change
In a phone interview, Johaira also said that she and her husband had petitioned the Cotabato City Regional Trial Court to change the surname of their four children, aged 8 to 21.
“I know disowning one’s family name was the hardest thing to do for anybody. But my husband and I wanted to protect our children,” Johaira told the Inquirer.
She said she and her husband asked the court to allow their children to use her maiden name instead.
Zaldy’s wife also asked the public not to judge Ampatuan clan members “just because we carry the family name.”
“Not all Ampatuans are monsters. We also condemn the massacre. We also want the real perpetrators to answer for their crimes,” she said.