Govt blamed for attacks on witnesses

DAVAO CITY: The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday criticized the Philippine government for its alleged failure to protect prosecution witnesses in the Maguindanao Massacre trial, saying that its “inability or unwillingness” to do so underlines the culture of impunity pervading the country.

HRW issued the statement following the Tuesday ambush of Dennis Sakal and Sukarno Saudagal, both potential prosecution witnesses in the massacre trial. Sakal was killed while Saudagal was injured in the attack carried out by unidentified gunmen in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.