MANILA, Philippines—Saying his life is “under threat,” the Department of Justice has taken custody of a relative of the Ampatuan family tagged in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre and placed him under government protection for being a “crucial witness.”
Initially among those charged for the Nov. 23, 2009, carnage that left 58 dead, former Datu Salibo town Mayor Akmad Ampatuan is now under the witness protection program (WPP), Justice Secretary Leila de
Lima said on Friday.
Ampatuan is known to be a close and trusted relative of Andal Ampatuan Sr., one of the principal accused in the massacre that included several journalists as victims.
“He is in a hospital now [in Makati]. I asked WPP [officers] to rush there. We have to intervene, we informed the Makati Police that he is under our custody. The custody should be with us because his life is in danger,” De Lima told reporters Friday morning.
Ampatuan survived an ambush try in November.
The WPP took Ampatuan under its wings just as he faced arrest for cases like arson and murder before the Cotabato Regional Trial Court (RTC), De Lima said.
She said she had sent the WPP office to manifest before the court that the witness was under government protection.
“He is a crucial witness, so we put him under WPP…I instructed our WPP office to file the appropriate manifestation and motion in Cotabato RTC [to say that] he is covered by WPP and that we are asserting our authority that he is under our custody,” said De Lima.
Ampatuan is among witnesses who named suspects in the second wave of complaints against those allegedly involved in the massacre.
Under the WPP, a government witness is provided a safe house and round-the-clock protection.
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