‘Balay lobbying for Zaldy Ampatuan’

The “Balay” faction in Malacañang is lobbying President Benigno Aquino III to accept former Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan’s offer to turn state witness against his father and brother in the gruesome Maguindanao massacre, a lawyer of the victims said on Tuesday.

Lawyer Harry Roque blasted Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda for allegedly acting as emissaries of the accused conspirator and bypassing Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

De Lima, who has the authority to accept or reject applicants for the witness protection program, on Tuesday thumbed down the offer of the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that was revealed in TV interviews aired on Monday.

“My phone was flooded with calls from families of the massacre victims after hearing that people in Malacañang were ‘lawyering’ for Zaldy Ampatuan. How come the Ampatuans still have direct access to the President? I thought that the Ampatuans were influential in Malacañang only during the time of Arroyo but it seems like Arroyo did not leave,” Roque said in a phone interview.

The former governor, along with his father Andal Ampatuan Sr. and brother Andal Jr., is among 196 people accused in the massacre of 58 people in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009. The three Ampatuans and 79 others are detained and undergoing trial.

Robredo on Tuesday told reporters that Zaldy had been separated from the cells of his father and brother at the Bicutan detention center and that authorities would “do everything to secure” him.

“We will not give him perks or whatever privileges,” Robredo said, “but we’ll make sure he’ll be safe.” He said Zaldy’s family also had been secured.

In interviews conducted two weeks ago and embargoed for Monday’s broadcast on GMA, ANC and the Doha-based Arabic network Al-Jazeera, Zaldy tearfully said the massacre, described as the worst political violence in the nation’s history, had ruined his life.

Zaldy said he was “willing to speak the truth, even if my testimony will involve my father and brother.”

Meeting with emissary

Mr. Aquino confirmed to reporters during his visit to Roxas City on Tuesday that he had met with Zaldy’s “emissary” whose identity was not disclosed. He said that the former ARMM governor only wanted to testify as a state witness in exchange for nothing.

“(To be a) state witness engenders immunity from suit, you drop him from the charges, and there is no such request from him,” he said. Quoting the emissary, the President said Zaldy “was not asking anything in return” for testifying.

He explained that to qualify as a state witness, an accused must be the “least guilty” in a case so that he could be given immunity from suit.

“But the emissary I talked to said (Zaldy) was offering all of this evidence or his testimony without any consideration,” the President said. “His offer does not contain any of that. He wants to impart all of this evidence or purported evidence.”

Roque said Robredo had deep ties with Zaldy as both were local government officials. Robredo used to be mayor of Naga City, while Lacierda and Ampatuan’s lawyer, Howard Calleja, had deep-rooted links as both were Ateneo law graduates.

While De Lima has rejected Ampatuan as a possible witness in the case just minutes after the taped interview of the former governor came out, Roque said Robredo and Lacierda echoed each other by declaring that Ampatuan’s testimony should be weighed and studied further.

Nothing to do with case

Roque said Robredo and Lacierda should first step down from their posts if they were serious in getting the President to take Zaldy as a witness. “They have nothing to do with the case,” Roque said.

The lawyer also tagged other Balay members in the Cabinet as being supportive of Ampatuan’s gambit.

But Roque refused to name the Cabinet officials, although he noted that just like Robredo and Lacierda, they also belong to the Balay group in Malacañang.

Balay is named after the Liberal Party headquarters in Cubao, Quezon City, while its rival faction “Samar” derived its label from a run-down mansion on Samar Avenue in Quezon City.

The Balay group supported Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas in his failed bid for the vice presidency, while the Samar group supported Jejomar Binay.

“We will name all of them in time,” Roque said.

Deles, Carandang

But an Inquirer source, who requested anonymity, identified these Cabinet officials as Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita “Ging” Deles and Secretary Ricky Carandang.

The same source said Deles was one of those who had endorsed Zaldy as ARMM governor during the Arroyo administration.

The same source said that Carandang also had promised Ampatuan that he would convince the President to accept him as a state witness.

Roque claimed that members of the Balay group were “politically motivated” in backing Zaldy because they were looking to consolidate their power in the ARMM which was the epicenter of massive cheating in the past elections.

“They know that Ampatuan still holds power in ARMM and they want to cleanse Ampatuan’s name. This is clearly all about the elections,” Roque said.

Security issue

Lacierda dismissed Roque’s claims. “There is no Balay faction here,” he said. “He doesn’t know what he is saying.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Lacierda told reporters that the former ARMM governor only wanted security and that his request had been granted, as Robredo had disclosed.

“In so far as there is a deal here, there’s no such discussion,” he said. “There’s no offer to become a state witness.”

Told that De Lima wasn’t keen in accepting Zaldy’s offer, Lacierda said that the justice and interior departments were discussing the issue and would submit a “recommendation, if ever, or if at their level, they could agree whether (Zaldy) can or cannot be used as a state witness. It’s still being assessed.”

“Look, the perspective here is that we’re after the truth and we’d like this case to be prosecuted expeditiously. If there’s any testimony that can help us further the truth and enlighten what really happened during that day, that’s the reason why we’re looking at the testimony of Zaldy Ampatuan,” Lacierda said.

He said Malacañang could not just disregard the governor’s offer.

De Lima adamant

But in a news conference on Tuesday, De Lima categorically knocked down Zaldy’s proposal.

“As the current state of things stand, with that so-called offer, that so-called version of his story—no. It’s rejected,” she said.

De Lima said this was the stand of the prosecutors.

Zaldy is not admitting any guilt, participation or involvement in the massacre at all, De Lima said. “This goes against the very essence of being a state witness.”

She said the prosecution was bent on seeing Ampatuan arraigned and hearing “his plea of guilty or not guilty.” With reports from Nikko Dizon, Norman Bordadora, Dona Z. Pazzibugan and Christine O. Avendaño