Fiscals eye Zaldy’s ‘prior crimes’

MANILA, Philippines - The prosecution panel in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre trial is eyeing the presentation of witnesses who will testify on “prior acts” committed by former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan.

During the trial proceedings last week, prosecutor Aristotle Reyes said they would present Lakandula Bantillan and Abdulbayan Upam during the hearings on the bail petition filed by the former governor.

Reyes said the two would testify on “prior acts” Ampatuan allegedly he committed before the massacre, which claimed the lives of 58 people, including 32 media practitioners.

The prosecution refused to provide additional information on the witnesses and the nature of their testimonies. The defense, meanwhile, is trying to block their presentation.

In a three-page motion and manifestation filed before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221, defense lawyer Philip Sigfrid Fortun asked Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to stop the prosecution from presenting “impertinent witnesses who will testify on prior acts allegedly committed” by the former governor.

“Case law disallows presentation of evidence for prior ‘crimes’ allegedly committed by an accused to prove the commission of the offense subject to an ongoing trial,” the defense motion stated.

Fortun also noted that bail hearings are summary in nature and that some of the proposed witnesses of the prosecution will provide “irrelevant” testimony.

The prosecution said they would present 17 witnesses on Zaldy’s bail petition alone. Among them are former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol and broadcast journalists Anthony Taberna and Joseph Morong.

Reyes said the journalists will testify on Zaldy’s earlier interviews that tackled his supposed participation in the massacre.