A farmer who said he witnessed the Philippines’ worst political massacre told a court yesterday the victims begged for mercy before being shot at close range.
Akmad Ismael recounted how he saw the prime defendant, Andal Ampatuan Jr, and his gunmen stop a convoy of cars carrying 57 people in November last year, before shooting and then burying the victims in a hill.
“The men and women were screaming: ‘Please have mercy on us, Datu Unsay, don’t kill us, we have done nothing against you,’” Ismael recalled, referring to Ampatuan Jr by his nickname.
Ismael said he was leading his water buffalo up a hill when he stumbled upon defendant Ampatuan Jr and his men accosting the 57 people.
The victims included relatives of Ampatuan Jr’s political rival and 30 journalists.
Ismael said Ampatuan saw him watching the events and ordered his men to go after him.
Four of the gunmen caught him and were ready to kill him, according to Ismael, who said he survived because he recognized one of the assailants as an acquaintance and pleaded successfully to be released.
Ismael said he hid 200m away from the scene, but he could still clearly see Ampatuan Jr lead his men in murdering the 57 people.
The shooting went on for about an hour, Ismael said.
Ismael said that after remaining in hiding for about three hours after the massacre, he rushed to his home, took his family and fled for safety. Ismael and his family have not lived in their home village since.
Ampatuan Jr, a member of a Muslim political clan that had ruled Maguindanao province for a decade, is accused of leading the massacre to stop a rival from running against him for the post of provincial governor in national elections.
Ampatuan’s father and namesake, three brothers and an uncle, as well as police officers and the clan’s bodyguards are among 196 people accused of being involved in the crime.
Ismael was the third prosecution witness to testify in the trial against all of the accused who are in custody.
He was the first to testify that he directly saw Ampatuan Jr and his men shoot the victims.
The trial is expected to take many months. The maximum penalty for those found guilty is life in jail.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese