Interpreter skips Ampatuan hearing out of fear — prosecution

Rolando Abo, the interpreter in the Maguindanao massacre hearings, has been missing in action for two hearings due to health reason, but a source from the prosecution said this could be out of fear. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source told GMA News Online on Thursday that prime suspect Andal Ampatuan Sr. had threatened Abo in one of the hearings inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. “Sinabihan daw siya ni Andal Sr. na, ‘Ayusin mo ang pagi-interpret mo ha,’" the source said, citing information reaching the prosecution panel. Abo’s absence prompted the court to suspend the hearings on Wednesday and Thursday. His presence in the proceedings was considered vital to translate the testimonies of witnesses and even suspects who could only speak in Maguindanaoan. Absurd Andal Sr.’s lawyer, Sigfrid Fortun, meanwhile, described as “absurd" the source’s claim that his client had threatened Abo. Fortun said Andal Sr. has never gotten near Abo in the past hearings since the interpreter always stayed on the prosecution side of the courtroom. “Excuses are made to cover up for incompetence. Guess who really is causing delay in the proceedings?" he said in a text message. In an August 1 letter to Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221, Abo hinted that he wanted to withdraw his appearance from the case due to an ear problem called Tinnitus. "I write to request the Honorable Court to release me from being the Maguindanaon interpreter in the ongoing hearing of the Maguindanao Massacre case due to the malady I am suffering from, called tinnitus, a continual ringing noise I hear inside my ears," he said in his letter. Abo said intense stress and pressure has caused his hearing condition to become "irritating," and has affected "not only my concentration but my comprehension as well" during court proceedings. Abo cited instances during trial when he had to ask that the questions of lawyers to a witness or a witness' response to a question be repeated because he could not clearly understand them. "In effect, [it] not only delays the proceedings but [gives] as well a bad impression that I might be coaching the witness," Abo said. Abo attached to his letter to the court a medical certificate from the St. Luke's Medical Center dated October 10, 2010 discussing the interpreter's condition. Other translators The court interpreter also requested Solis-Reyes to look for other Maguindanaoan translators who have a "monopoly of the dialect." Abo admitted he could not be an "effective translator" given his medical condition and his limited knowledge of the Maguindanaoan language. "With the awesome powers of the State in bringing to the bar of justice the people responsible in the massacre, it can summon for assistance as many Maguindanaon-speaking individuals as it likes to serve as interpreter or translator in the hearing of the Ampatuan Massacre case," he said. Abo suggested that the court look for a translator from the Cotabato City Regional Office of the National Council for Muslim Filipinos or from the Office of the National Council on Indigenous People in Cotabato. In the same letter, Abo assured Judge Solis-Reyes that he would appear on Wednesday’s hearing. He, however, failed to show up that day, claiming he was suffering from “fever, colds, and coughs." GMA News Online tried reaching Abo through his mobile phone but he could not be reached. The interpreter For almost a year now, Abo has been the official court interpreter for witnesses who speak only Maguindanaoan like farmers Norodin Mauyag and Akmad Abubakar Esmael, and former militiaman Esmael Amil. Mauyag testified seeing Andal Sr.’s son, Andal Jr., also a principal suspect in the case, flag down the victims at a checkpoint at Sitio Malating in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, on the morning of Nov. 23, 2009. Esmael, on the other hand, claimed to have seen Andal Jr. and several private armed men shoot the victims. Amil, meanwhile, told the court that he fetched three dozens of Ampatuan’s private militiamen to Sitio Malating hours before the massacre. Abo has also been interpreting for several Maguindanaoan-speaking suspects during their arraignment, including Andal Sr. — KBK, GMA News