CenterLaw’s Harry Roque said the death of Suwaib Upham, one of the gunmen in the November 23 carnage who wanted to be a key witness but was turned away by the government, should bear on the conscience of outgoing Justice Secretary Alberto Agra.

Upham, whom media christened “Jessie”, was killed last June 14 in Parang, Maguindanao.

“I put the blame for his death to Acting Secretary Agra and his principal, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who refused to accord any protection to Jessie. There is blood in Agra and Mrs. Arroyo’s hands. May they forever by hunted by the souls of Jessie and the rest of the victims of the massacre,” the straight talking Roque said.

Roque has every right to be outraged. He was the one who sought protection for Jessie at the DOJ.

A Mindanao-based non-government organization brought Jessie to Roque. My sources said the Moro Islamic Liberation Front provided Jessie shelter when he escaped from the Ampatuans.

Roque said when he proposed Jessie as state witness against the Ampatuans, which means he would be under the Witness Protection Program, the DOJ personnel didn’t show up at the agreed time and the agreed place for the interview. It was at the office of Human Rights Chair Leila de Lima who is now the incoming justice secretary.

The DOJ people wanted Jessie instead to go to the justice department on Padre Faura. Roque said, “Jessie refused to appear in the DOJ premises because he had information that high-ranking officials of the Department were working with the Ampatuans.”

When Agra later dismissed the cases against Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan, many realized Jessie was not being paranoid.

Roque was afraid that if he went to the DOJ, he would be arrested as he was in the police list of suspects who were at large. He knew that he would not last a night in jail as the Ampatuans had placed a P10 million price for his head.

I met Jessie sometime in March in a safehouse in Quezon city. He looked anxious and tense. He said he was the close-in bodyguard of Datu Kanor, cousin of Andal Ampatuan Jr, former mayor of Datu Unsay town who was the monster who executed the November 23 massacre which killed at least 57 persons, 32 of them journalists.

Jessie said he was one of the seven gunmen in that massacre. This was part of his narration of that despicable happening:

“When we reached the hill, Datu Unsay, who came in his black DMX truck, ordered the passengers in the third van to alight first. I followed the passengers as they stepped out of the van. As Genalyn Mangudadatu emerged from the van, Datu Unsay hit her on the left cheek with the butt of his gun. She staggered at the blow and nearly collapsed to the ground, breaking into loud sobs. Datu Unsay then told everyone to form a line and to lie prostrate on the ground not far from the van. The victims complied with his order. We shooters then formed a jagged line just a foot or so away behind them."

“Genalyn Mangudadatu lay at the head of the line. When Datu Unsay tried to pull her up by an arm to stand, she refused. Instead, she knelt on the ground. An angry Datu Unsay then aimed his baby M203 rifle grenade launcher at her back and fired pointblank on full automatic mode. I heard the woman gave a loud cry as she fell to the ground,” he continued his narration.

Then Andal Jr gave the order to start shooting, “Sige, fight.”

“I pulled the trigger – we all pulled the trigger and we all fired on full automatic mode. We stood so close to our victims that when we stopped shooting, we were all drenched in blood and bits of human remains – brain matter, bone splinters, strips of skin. Datu Unsay’s white polo shirt turned to crimson,” he said.

Jessie can’t say how many he killed but when stopped firing, and checked his weapon, he found out he had fired 23 out of 30 rounds.

Weeks after the massacre, Jessie got another job assignment from Andal Jr who was already under the custody of the NBI: kill the driver of Datu Kanor because there’s a danger that he would talk to investigators.

He killed Datu Kanor’s driver while the guy was sleeping. After that, he learned that it was his turn for liquidation.

For a while he was given sanctuary by a religious group but the seminary was raided. When he was refused DOJ protection, he went back to Maguindanao.

True to his fears, someone executed the contract on him.