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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 3) — A key witness in the Maguindanao massacre trial who is under state protection was ambushed in South Cotabato Wednesday morning.
Mohamad Sangki was with a driver and security detail when armed men attacked them in Tantangan town, said Nena Santos, lawyer for Maguindanao massacre victims. The ambush took place as Sangki and his companions were en route to Cotabato Airport from Tacurong City.
Sangki and the driver are now in a hospital in Koronadal City, Santos said. The witness had no gunshot wound but sustained injuries, while the driver was badly hurt.
The security guard was able to return fire but the suspects fled.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra in a statement said he will order an investigation immediately. Sangki is under the Justice Department’s Witness Protection Progrem, being a “vital witness” of the prosecution in the decade-old Maguindanao massacre trial.
“Sangki is a vital witness in the second wave of prosecution for the Maguindanao Massacre, and it is not far-fetched that his ambush today had something to do with the horrible case,” Guevarra said.
In December 2019, eight members of the Ampatuan clan were found guilty and sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in prison for the murder of 57 people in Maguindanao in 2009.
Among those convicted were Datu Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan, Jr., Zaldy Ampatuan, and Datu Anwar, Sr. – sons of the late former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan, Sr. who prosecution witnesses said masterminded the crime.
Another son of Andal Sr., Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan, was acquitted, along with other relatives.
