Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu said he expects that the people responsible for the Maguindanao Massacre, which led to the death of his wife and 57 other people, would be convicted within six months.
Mangudadatu said this was after the camp of Andal “Datu Unsay” Ampatuan Jr. failed to present their witness before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 during its hearing last week.
Also helping in their case, he said, was the recanting of one of the Ampatuan’s key witness, Thonti Lawani, who collaborated with the statements of their other witnesses.
Mangudadatu said Lawani is now facing perjury charges.
“There is no more problem because all that needs to be presented before the court has already been presented,” Mangudadatu said.
“There are no longer any pending MR (motion for reconsideration) because their bail application has been denied so we are expecting a conviction within six months,” Mangudadatu said.
The Maguidanao Massacre, which happened in 2009 in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, is considered one of the bloodiest election-related violence in the country.
Fifty-eight people died from the incident including 37 journalists.
Toto Mangudadatu accompanied his brother, Zajid Mangudadatu, when he filed on Monday his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) at the Commission on Election (Comelec) main office in Intramuros, Manila.