MANILA, Philippines - Former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. pleaded not guilty to 57 counts of murder slapped against him in connection with the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.
Defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun accompanied Ampatuan at his arraignment yesterday before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 at the special courtroom set up at the police headquarters in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.
Ampatuan was surrounded by at least 12 members of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology’s elite forces Special Tactics and Response Team (BJMP-Star) as the charges were read before him in Filipino and Maguindanaoan.
Ampatuan repeated his not guilty plea when Solis-Reyes asked for a clarification, prompting an outburst from the victims’ family members.
Fortun lamented that the families’ reaction was “premeditated” and moved that the kin be sent out of court for “creating a ruckus.”
“I move for the exclusion of the gallery,” Fortun said, even as he demanded that the court issue an immediate answer.
Solis-Reyes also threatened to send the relatives of victims out but relented following the request of prosecution and lawyer Nena Santos, counsel of Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu to let them stay inside the make shift court room inside Camp Bagong Diwa.
“I will allow them to stay on the condition that they will not be noisy,” said Solis-Reyes.
But Fortun maintained his opposition saying: “This is a court of law not a market place.”
He also asked Solis-Reyes to send Santos out for “encouraging” the families to behave in such manner. “It was done in chorus. It was premeditated. It’s a total travesty. How can you create a ruckus all at the same time?” an irate Fortun said.
He also slammed prosecution panel head State Prosecutor Pete Medalle for not stopping and instead tolerated the heckling.
Fortun also asked Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, who is supervising the hearing, to report what happened to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. To which Baraan agreed and said he will inform the secretary about what he saw.
Santos denied Fortun’s claim and explained that she was standing near the victims kin so she could “control their emotions.”
Medalle also argued that the gallery’s reaction was “unrehearsed” and that he was not tolerating anything.
Solis-Reyes insisted that she already made a ruling and that the arraignment should push through with the complainants inside the courtroom. Ampatuan on the other hand, stood motionless in his yellow jail uniform.
The Ampatuan clan’s patriarch, a former governor of Maguindanao, and several of his sons and relatives were accused of killing 57 people in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009.
Among the dead were the wife of Gov. Mangudadatu who was then the vice mayor of Buluan, Maguindanao and two of his sisters, two female lawyers and 30 media workers who covered the supposed filing of certificate of candidacy of the vice mayor who would run for governor of Maguindanao and challenge a scion of the Ampatuan clan. Mangudadatu has since won the election.
The Mangudadatus have accused the Ampatuans of masterminding the incident, specifically pointing to Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao as one of the leaders of 100 armed men who abducted Mangudadatu’s supporters.
The Ampatuans denied the allegations against them.
Gov. Mangudadatu and his siblings also attended the arraignment, which he dubbed as an “awaited moment.”
“Since last we’ve been preparing for this,” said Mangudadatu’s brother Khadaffy.
Compared to his appearance 18 months ago, Ampatuan looked thinner yesterday with his hair longer and dyed black.
He rarely talked except during lunch break when Fortun showed him the sketch of the crime scene.