Ampatuan camp: Backhoe operator wants to catch De Lima's attention

A lawyer for the Ampatuans on Tuesday cast doubts on the motive of the alleged backhoe operator in the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre for suddenly speaking out and blaming the killings on members of the powerful clan in Mindanao.

Lead defense counsel Sigfrid Fortun told GMA News Online that backhoe operator Bong Andal probably wanted to once again try to get off the hook, especially after the government last year denied his request to become a state witness in the gruesome slays that left 58 people dead, including 32 journalists.

"Prosecutors had rejected him as state witness in December 2012. He was arrested after over three years in hiding," said Fortun.

"He will say anything to catch Secretary Leila de Lima's attention to reconsider his bid to become state witness and be set free," the defense lawyer added.

Private prosecutor Harry Roque, whose law firm represents families of most of the slain journalists, told GMA News Online that he would not yet comment on Andal's statements, saying he has yet to discuss the matter with government prosecutors.

In an exclusive video interview aired on GMA News' "24 Oras" Monday night, Andal recounted how he used his machine's large steel hand to drag bloodied bodies into freshly dug pits and crush vehicles with some of the dead still inside.

Andal said that these and other abominable acts were purportedly ordered by men from the Ampatuan family, the suspected masterminds behind the massacre.

In the video, Andal narrated how he followed the supposed order of the Ampatuan family to bury the victims.

"Ako po si Bong Andal, katiwala po ng mga Ampatuan [sa] heavy equipment. Ako po 'yung inutusan nilang maglibing sa nangyaring masaker na 'yun," Andal said.

The victims were part of a convoy that was supposed to register the candidacy of Esmael Mangudadatu, the incumbent Maguindanao governor who was then challenging an Ampatuan family member for the position in the 2010 elections.

Andal was arrested last November 24, 2012 in Midsayap, Cotabato in an entrapment operation conducted by the local police and military. The prosecution initially requested Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to convert Andal as a state witness.

The prosecutors, however, later withdrew their request, saying they no longer wanted him as a state witness. In explaining their decision to drop Andal, the prosecutors said that the backhoe operator would testify on things that had been covered anyway by the testimony of former Sultan sa Barongis vice mayor Sukarno Badal. — BM, GMA News