THE DEFENSE presented two former prosecution witnesses who had recanted their testimonies, and who told the court that they were forced to sign their earlier affidavits.
As a witness for the prosecution, LAGUDIN ALFONSO had said earlier that he was near the checkpoint at Crossing Masalay in the morning of November 23, 2009. For the defense, he said he was instead with Thonti Lawani and Akmad Abubakar, another prosecution witness, in the house of Rasul Sangki.
THONTI LAWANI had earlier said he saw the convoy of Datu Unsay going toward the mountainous portion of Masalay, and later heard gunshots coming from the direction where the convoy was headed. Recanting this testimony, he then testified for the defense, saying that he was not at Crossing Masalay on November 23, 2009.
FABIAN S. FABIAN, a Philippine Airlines (PAL) supervisor, testified that based on their records, Datu Unsay took a flight from Los Angeles, USA, on November 16, 2009, arriving in Manila in the morning of November 18, 2009. This was corroborated by the testimony of Immigration Officer Feliana Ong, who told the court that based on immigration records, Datu Unsay left the Philippines on Nov. 9, 2009, and returned on Nov. 18, 2009. This disputed the claim of Lakmodin Saliao, who said that Datu Unsay attended a meeting on Nov. 17, 2009.
Datu Unsay himself took the witness stand to deny that he was at the massacre site in the morning of the killing, saying that it was impossible for him to be with Mohamad Sangki and Rasul Sangki as the two hated him. Rasul had testified that he saw Datu Unsay and his men kill the 58 victims, while Mohamad told the court that Datu Unsay forcibly loaded two women on a vehicle and ordered his men to confiscate the bags and wallets of the victims, and then left Sitio Malating with Rasul Sangki.
ABEDIN ALAMADA, former councilor of Ampatuan town, said Datu Unsay attended the meeting from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., as can be seen on the Minutes of the Meeting, which was signed by the attendees. Alamada is one of the co-accused in the case.