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Until his last breath, the late Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. insisted he had no hand in the November 23, 2009 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
Atty. Salvador Panelo, lawyer of both Andal Ampatuan Sr. and Andal Ampatuan Jr., said he spoke to the dying ex-governor before the latter went into a coma.
He said his client wanted to get well so he can testify to the court his side of the story.
For one thing, he said Ampatuan wanted to tell the court that prosecution witness Lakmudin Saliao, who allegedly witnessed the planning of the Maguindanao massacre, was lying.
“He wanted the court to know the side of the story of the Ampatuans, that they are innocent, that the prosecution witness specifically Lakmudin Saliao, was lying. He was not there on the alleged November 17, 2009 incident when he allegedly presided over a conspiracy meeting,” he said in an interview on ANC’s Headstart.
“Truth sits upon the lips of dying men. In other words, if you are dying and you know you are dying, you are going to tell the truth…He said we are not a part of this crime. I am innocent.”
Panelo said five people identified by Saliao as having attended the November 17 planning for the Maguindanao massacre “were either in Manila or abroad.”
He said Andal Ampatuan Jr. was actually on a plane coming from the United States to Manila on November 17.
“This is the first time that people are hearing this because our colleagues in the media don’t want to report this,” he said.
He also noted that an airline representative as well as an immigration officer will testify that Andal Jr. was on a plane on November 17, 2009.
Panelo insisted that physical evidence cannot be overcome by a thousand testimonies since testimonies can be fabricated.
“The travels, the immigration papers – they cannot lie,” he said.
In the interview, the lawyer said the Ampatuan family was framed in the massacre. He noted that at least one rebel commander had admitted to the admission of the crime.
He denied that the Ampatuans ordered the rebels to participate in the crime, saying that the properties of the Ampatuans were seized by the rebels.
“They are almost penniless now,” he said.
He also pointed out that the site of the massacre in Ampatuan town is actually controlled by the Sangkis who are enemies of the Ampatuan clan.
The Ampatuans are the primary suspects in the killing of 58 people, including members of the Mangudadatu clan, rivals of the Ampatuans, on November 23, 2009.
Ampatuan Vice Mayor Rasul Sangki earlier testified that he personally witnessed then Ampatuan Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. shoot and kill Genalin Mangudadatu and two companions during the massacre. He earlier said the younger Ampatuan tipped him off about the plan to conduct a massacre on November 19, 2009.
The so-called Maguindanao Massacre sparked local and international outrage. Fingers pointed to Andal Sr. and Andal Jr. as those who gave the order to kill.
Two days later, Arroyo’s political party the Lakas-Kampi-CMD expelled the Ampatuans from its ranks.
In December of that year, Andal Sr. surrendered to authorities. He was arraigned inside a Manila prison on June 1, 2011, and pleaded not guilty.
While in prison, Ampatuan Sr. was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis and was brought to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City where he was found to be suffering also from terminal liver cancer, among other illnesses.
After suffering a massive heart attack and slipping into a coma, Andal Sr. passed away Friday night.
Despite the fall from power of its patriarch, members of the Ampatuan clan still hold local positions in the province.
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
