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[SIZE=3]Ex-Arroyo exec got P10M from Maguindanao slay suspect—witness [/SIZE]
By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 12:13:00 09/15/2010
Filed Under: Maguindanao Massacre, Judiciary (system of justice), Crime, Politics
MANILA, Philippines – A former Cabinet secretary of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and two others received P10 million each early this year from one of the suspects in the massacre in Maguindanao, a witness told the local court Wednesday.
Lakmudin Saliao, house help for 18 years of Andal Ampatuan Sr., testified in Filipino that last march 11 he was instructed by the former governor to give the money to former press secretary Jess Dureza “in exchange for his freedom from rebellion.”
Aside from murder following the deaths of 57 people in Maguindanao last Nov. 23, 2009, Ampatuan Sr. was also charged with rebellion after he and some members of his family allegedly tried to usurp the authority of the government that was then investigating the carnage in the province where the clan wielded influence.
Saliao also testified before the local court in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig that then Maguindanao chief of police Sukarno Dicay and one Erin Ebus also received P10 million each for recanting on their testimonies against the Ampatuans.
Mike Magtimbang, a board member of the Maguindanao provincial council, received P20 million for taking care of Ampatuan Sr. in Camp Anakan in Eastern Mindanao where he was initially detained following his arrest, Saliao said.
Aside from Ampatuan Sr., also charged with murder was his son, Andal Ampatuan Jr, tagged as the brains behind the deaths of 57 people, including 30 journalists and political rivals of the Ampatuans, as they were on their way to file the certificate of candidacy of then vice mayor Esmael Mangudadatu for governor in the elections last May.
Andal Jr. was being eyed to succeed his father when the massacre happened.


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