Backhoe driver recounts Maguindanao massacre in video

MANILA, Philippines - The supposed backhoe operator involved in the Maguindanao massacre in November 2009 finally revealed details of the brutal incident in a video testimony that would serve as his sworn affidavit.

The operator known as Bong Andal said that he was sent by members of the political Ampatuan clan to the massacre site to bury vehicles and bodies into a newly dug pit.

"Ako po ang inutusan nilang maglibing sa nangyaring masaker na 'yon," Andal, who has been withdrawn as state witness, said in the video interview aired Monday night.

Andal was under the government's Witness Protection and Security Program until he was dropped last March and included in the 195 suspects in the gruesome murder of 58 people, including journalists and media professionals as well as family members of the Ampatuans' political rival Esmael Mangundadatu, in November 2009.

In his testimony, Andal alleged that patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. asked him before the incident if the backhoe was in good condition and told him to to make sure it is well oiled.

He also said that Andal Ampatuan Jr. was the one who directly ordered him to bury the victims.

"Nagkasalubong kami doon sa pinangyarihan ng masaker. Tapos pagdating ko doon, nakita ko na ang mga patay. Nandoon din si Datu Unsay," Andal claimed, referring to Ampatuan Jr., the former mayor of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao.

The backhoe operator narrated how he first dragged the vehicles of the victims into the pit and crashed them with the backhoe before he dropped the bodies into the hole.

"Tuwing may sasakyan na may bangkay sa loob nito, ako ay pikit-mata sa pagpitpit (ng mga sasakysan) sa tinding takot," Andal said.

Andal also mentioned Zaldy Ampatuan, whom he called "Datu Saudi," who allegedly called and instructed him to make the hole deeper.

It took three years for authorities to arrest Andal since the murder before he was placed under the custody of the Philippine National Police in November 2012.

Andal claimed that the Ampatuans threatened to kill his family if he would allow himself to be apprehended.

"Sinabi rin ng mga Ampatuan sa akin, pati magulang ko, na huwag ako pahuli. Kung mahuli ako ipapatay nila mga magulang pati na mga kapatid ko, pati mga anak ko," Andal said in the video.

He also said that he fled when he heard a helicopter approaching the site, leaving the pit only partially covered.

Department of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, meanwhile, said that Andal's affidavit would either be corroborated with other testimonies or would be used to achieve conviction.

De Lima, however said that Andal's testimony does not automatically make him a state witness.

Related story: De Lima admits slow pace of Maguindanao massacre trial

Efren Macanas, another backhoe operator supposedly involved in the killing, testified in court in July 2012, pinning Andal whom he said was a provincial equipment detachment chief who ordered him to drive the backhoe and bury the bodies.

The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists has said that the Maguindanao massacre is "the deadliest single attack on the press ever documented."