Justice for massacre victims next year?

MANILA, Philippines - Will justice finally be served to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre next year?

A private prosecutor in the multiple murder case, who previously predicted the trial may run for another 16 years, is now confident there will be a partial promulgation of judgment against some of the accused by 2015.

“We are pushing for a promulgation of judgment against the Ampatuan clan and the shooters,” said lawyer Harry Roque, who represents relatives of some of the media practitioners slain in the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre.

“It is safe to say that we can have promulgation of judgment against the three primary suspects,” Roque said, referring to former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his sons Andal Jr. and Zaldy.

The change in Roque’s tone was due to a Supreme Court (SC) resolution that sought to expedite court proceedings.

Roque earlier expressed incredulity in the pronouncement of Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes that a judgment may be handed down against some suspects by 2016.

The resolution, issued in December 2013, directed Reyes – the presiding judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 221 – to implement the judicial affidavit rule in hearing the multiple murder case.

The high court also ordered the judge “to hold, based on her discretion, separate trials for the accused against whom the prosecution contemplates no further evidence.”

She was also authorized to issue separate decisions and resolve pending petitions despite some matters pending in higher courts.

An assisting judge, Genie Gapas-Agbada of Virac RTC Branch 42, was also appointed to conduct all non-trial incidents such as arraignments and pre-trials in the cases filed in connection with the Maguindanao massacre.

Gapas-Agbada was also designated to “decide incidents and motions that are not intrinsic to the merits of the cases” as determined by Reyes.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the SC resolution has sped up the process.

De Lima said the sheer number of accused is one of the reasons in the delay of the case.

The number of accused now stands at 194 after three suspects were discharged to become state witnesses.

Of the remaining 194, 70 filed petitions for bail. Murder is a non-bailable offense, but the filing of such a petition is allowed if the evidence of the prosecution is weak.

De Lima said the presentation of evidence against 63 accused has already been finished and it was now the turn of the defense to present their rebuttal evidence.

The prosecution has said the pieces of evidence presented during the bail hearings would be adopted as “evidence-in-chief” to speed up the process.

Still hopeful

Despite setbacks and the recent of killing of a witness in the case, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima remains hopeful they could score a conviction before President Aquino steps down in 2016.

“That remains my aspiration that by 2016 there will be a conviction even just among the principal accused,” De Lima said yesterday.

“We are thinking of ways. We are undertaking steps to make that a reality,” she said.

The prosecution panel, which has undergone repeated revamps since the trial started, has been criticized for the slow pace of the case.

De Lima, however, said it is not that easy to handle a case that involves numerous victims and even more numerous accused.

“That is the legal process because of the requirement of due process. What is important is that the trial is continuing,” she said.

De Lima said the public should be alarmed if nothing was happening during the hearings.

“There are always hearings and in these hearings there are evidence and witnesses being presented,” she pointed out.

Malacañang assured yesterday the families of the victims that it was not being part of the delay in trying to obtain justice for them.

“As Secretary De Lima said, that there are many complicated facets to the Maguindanao massacre case… But we assure you that the government is doing its best to push the interest of the state in this case,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

Asked about criticisms that the justice was already much delayed and that impunity was continuing, Valte repeated “the executive is only part of the prosecution.”

“We’re not the ones hearing the case, we’re not the ones making the decisions... Again, the executive branch is not the only branch in play here into the case, and we can assure you that our efforts have been concentrated on pushing the case forward,” Valte said.

In an interview with reporters last week, Reyes said she is still hopeful that there will be a partial promulgation of judgment by 2016.

Reyes said the case has already moved forward since she last granted an interview with reporters last year.

During the past year, Reyes has started resolving the bail petitions of some of the accused charged with the massacre.

Zaldy’s camp is expected to end its presentation of evidence on the bail petition next week, while the camp of Andal Jr. is scheduled to present witnesses next month.

The bail petition of Andal Sr., however, has been submitted for resolution, which is expected to be released next month.

On Friday, Reyes issued an 11-page joint order that denied the bail plea of suspect Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay, former head of the Maguindanao provincial police at the time of the massacre.

Reyes said the evidence of guilt against Dicay is strong, based on the evidence presented by the prosecution panel.

Reyes, however, reiterated that resolving a bail application is not determining the suspect’s guilt or innocence, but rather a determination of whether the weight of the evidence is enough to grant him temporary liberty.

The ruling on the bail petition of Dicay came following the twin joint orders that granted the bail petition of 41 police officers charged for the massacre.

None of those granted bail were able to post the P11.6 million bond set by the court.

‘Pace already fast’

Sought for comment on the current pace of the trial, defense lawyer Salvador Panelo refused to give a timeline on the case but admitted the pace is “already fast” based on the standards of the current judicial system.

He cited a murder case, involving fewer accused, took seven years before the judge was able to issue a judgment.

Panelo – a high-profile lawyer known for representing clients such as Deniece Cornejo and lawyer Elly Pamatong – took over the case of Andal Jr. after his previous lawyers, the Fortun Narvasa & Salazar (FNS) law firm, withdrew from the case in August.

The FNS simultaneously withdrew, along with other top defense lawyers Andres Manuel and the Real Brotarlo & Real law firm from the case without stating a reason.

The move left more than two dozen suspects, including Andal Sr., without lawyers for at least a month. The Abbas law firm took over the case for the clan patriarch and some of the suspects surnamed Ampatuans.

Meanwhile, the Heffron Esguerra Dy & De Jesus law firm took over the case for Zaldy.

In several instances, Panelo maintained the Ampatuans were being framed by their political enemies for the murder.

“Why would the Ampatuans waylay and massacre the wife of a political rival and followers plus media practitioners in the enemy’s lair? That’s against common sense and logic,” Panelo said.

“They should have done it in the succeeding towns of Datu Shariff Aguak, Datu Hofer and Datu Amerah which they controlled,” he said. “I’m more convinced that the Ampatuans have been framed to seize political power.”

Earlier, three other Ampatuans claimed their inclusion in the list of the accused in the massacre was a move by their political opponents to “neutralize” the clan.

In the separate comments filed before the Quezon City court handling the case, suspects Anwar Ampatuan, Sajid Islam Ampatuan and Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan said their political opponents – particularly the Sangkis – conspired to link the entire Ampatuan clan to the Nov. 23, 2009 incident.

Anwar and Sajid Islam are brothers of Andal Jr., while Akmad is his brother-in-law.

Others still wanted

Based on court records, only 113 of the 197 suspects charged for the massacre have been arrested five years after the incident. Among the 84 fugitives are 15 surnamed Ampatuan.

Leading the list of suspects at large is Datu Kanor Ampatuan, brother of detained clan patriarch and former Maguindanao governor Andal Sr. Also wanted are Kanor’s son Datu Mama and Andal Sr.’s grandsons Bahnarin and Saudi Jr.

Other suspects surnamed Ampatuan who have yet to be arrested include Datu Harris, Datu Moning, Datu Norodin, Tony Kenis, and Kagi Amar.

All nine have a P300,000 reward each for their arrest, according to the wanted poster released by the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

The remaining six – Datu Dainga, Alnor, Rodel, Kertz, Intan, and Mohamad – each has a P250,000 reward for any information that would lead to their arrest.

Based on the CIDG’s wanted poster, other suspects who each have a P300,000 reward for their capture include Jun Pendatun, Nasser Adam, Alfie Pagabangan, Parido Zangkala Gogo, Mogira Hadji Anggulat, Hamid Delayudin and Kagi Faizal.

The rest of the missing suspects each have a P250,000 reward.

Those with higher rewards are believed to be close relatives or allies of the Ampatuans, while the others are former police officers or alleged members of the family’s private army.

Of the 113 arrested, charges against three have been dropped. One died after allegedly jumping off the roof of his detention facility in 2012.  – With Reinir Padua, Aurea Calica, John Unson, Pia Lee-Brago, Eva Visperas