COTABATO CITY. — There are 50 more individuals facing multiple murder charges after they were implicated by complainants in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.
The additional suspects were alleged to have been involved either in the planning, execution, or covering up of the carnage, said the complainants who identified themselves as heirs of the massacre victims.
Assisted by private prosecutor Nena Santos, the complainants and witnesses took their oaths before Maguindanao Provincial Prosecutor Tocod Ronda at the provincial governor’s office to signify the veracity of their additional declaration.
After a change in the political atmosphere in Maguindanao, the witnesses confidently came out to tell what they personally knew about the massacre that left 58 people killed, including 32 journalists. It was indeed the country’s deadliest election-related violence incident.
The new complaints are said to be “the final wave” of the prosecution. Ronda informed Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.
In the complaint information sheet, it was stated: “In the course of the Maguindanao massacre case, the witnesses presented in court have testified that several other persons who were not charged were actually involved in the planning, execution, and cover-up of what is known as the worst election-related case in the Philippines.”
“To achieve full justice, we, the heirs of the Ampatuan, Maguindanao massacre victims file the multiple murder case against the (mentioned) persons who participated in the gruesome commission of the crime,” the complainants said in their declaration.
Concern for witnesses’ safety
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, one of the main complainants of the Maguindanao massacre case, said he is very concerned about the security of the remaining witnesses, as many witnesses in the past have been killed or threatened.
He cited the case of former Datu Salibo, town mayor Akmad Ampatuan who survived an ambush last Dec. 10, 2014 in Maguindanao. Armed men also reportedly went to the house of Akmad and that of his son in Shariff Aguak town to harass
Akmad Ampatuan, along with two companions who are also witnesses, was ambushed last Nov. 18. Killed during the incident was Denix Sakal, a close aide of currently detained Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan Jr.