Ampatuan witness charged over fake ID

MANILA, Philippines - A witness for Maguindanao massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. is facing charges for using a falsified identification card to enter the jail facility where the trial for the multiple murder case is being held.

Lawyers Nena Santos and Maria Gemma Oquendo, private prosecutors in the Maguindanao massacre trial, lodged charges yesterday against defense witness Nickardo Uy Malang for using a Department of Interior and Local Government ID that identified him as a barangay secretary.

They asked the Taguig City prosecutor’s office to file a case of falsification by private individual and use of falsified documents after the witness admitted in open court that the ID was “prepared” for him by friends.

Santos and Oquendo also sought the filing of usurpation of authority against Malang for supposedly misrepresenting himself as a barangay secretary when he entered the premises of the Quezon City Jail-Annex where the trial is being held.

Malang was presented by defense lawyer Salvador Panelo as a witness in the bail petition of Ampatuan on Feb. 26.

In his testimony, Malang – who claimed to be a house helper of the Ampatuans – said his middle name should be “Abdullah” and not “Uy” as stated in his judicial affidavit.

During cross-examination, the prosecution pressed the issue of his name and learned that the ID that he presented upon entering the jail facility bears the name Nickardo Uy Malang.

Upon further questioning, Malang apparently admitted that he was not a barangay secretary, and that the ID he presented to jail officers was fake.