THE HEARINGS began on Jan. 5, 2010. Identifying so many suspects took time. And some could not be found. By early 2013, only 81 of the 98 arrested suspects had been arraigned. The number of the accused included in the same charge sheet, no one could expect a quick trial.
Eight of the accused died during the period of trial. On July 17, 2015, Andal Ampatuan Sr. died of a heart attack while in detention.
A potential witness, Suwahid Upham was killed in June 2010. Upham had admitted in a media interview that he was one of those who killed the victims, and that it was Datu Unsay himself who shot Genalyn Mangudadatu, the wife of Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu.
Witness Esmael Enog was killed after he testified in court that he was ordered by his boss, Alijol Ampatuan, to drive armed men to Barangay Malating, the site of the massacre.
Although only 31 accused were initially charged with the massacre, the number of the accused increased to 197 after the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) added more names to the list of suspects.