"Mayor accused in Philippines killings; Official helped lead massacre of foes, witness says" by Carlos H. Conde, International Herald Tribune | January 14, 2010
The international version of the NYT. Not the most trustworthy of sources, that's for sure.
MANILA - A witness to the massacre of 57 people in the southern Philippines testified yesterday that the principal suspect in the case, a mayor, shot several of the victims himself and that the mayor’s father, the patriarch of a powerful political clan once allied with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, had personally directed his son to carry out several of the killings.
Yeah, they helped her steal and election and armed them; so why would they turn and do this over an election they could have easily rigged?
Who benefited, readers?
Rasul Sangki, the vice mayor of the town of Ampatuan, in Maguindanao Province, told the court that the suspect, Andal Ampatuan Jr., killed at least three of the victims and ordered his supporters to shoot others to make sure they were dead. One of them, Sangki said, was a journalist who was begging for his life. The mayor, Sangki testified, shot the man with an M-16 rifle. Ampatuan, the only person indicted in the massacre so far, pleaded not guilty earlier this month to 41 murder charges against him. The hearing yesterday was held principally to hear his petition for bail, a move denounced by the victims’ relatives and several media groups in the Philippines.
In a brief interview with reporters yesterday, his first since he was charged, Ampatuan denied any role in the carnage. “Allah knows that I am innocent,’’ he said.
We have reached the point where you are forced to believe him because of the MSM's conduct. Lies and cover stories = truth.
Dante Jimenez, chairman of the watchdog group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, called Sangki’s testimony “very explosive and credible.’’
Sangki was the first person to testify about the massacre on Nov. 23, the worst act of political violence in the Philippines. Among the victims were 30 reporters and media workers, making the event the worst known attack on journalists, according to international media groups.
Okay, remember that please.
I've already made the observation of the great, agenda-pushing fanfare that opens a "terror" trial, then the MSM forgetfulness(?) until the verdict. I'm giving them a chance.
The massacre occurred when a convoy was making its way to Shariff Aguak, the provincial capital of Maguindanao, to file candidacy forms for Esmael Mangudadatu, the deputy mayor of a small town called Buluan. His wife, three sisters, and an aunt were in the convoy. They were heading to an election office to enter him as a candidate for governor in this year’s election, posing a direct challenge to Ampatuan. According to Sangki, Ampatuan directed dozens of his armed supporters to take the victims to a hilltop where they were killed and later buried. The graves were reported to have been dug with a backhoe belonging to the Maguindanao provincial government. Sangki was the first of several witnesses prosecutors said they would produce. He said Ampatuan had shot the journalist, whom he identified as Jimmy Cabillo; Mangudadatu’s wife; and one of Mangudadatu’s sisters.
Okay, where are they?
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