SC asked to disbar Ampatuan lawyer

MANILA, Philippines - The lead counsel of the principal accused in the Maguindanao massacre is set to face proceedings to take away his privilege to practice law.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu and other relatives of victims of the massacre are set to ask the Supreme Court (SC) today to disbar Philip Sigfrid Fortun, lead counsel of principal suspect Anadal Ampatuan Jr. and his father, Andal Sr.

Mangudadatu and the other complainants accused Fortun of violating the professional ethics for lawyers mandated by the SC.

Meanwhile, one of the Ampatuans accused in the killings insisted yesterday that he is innocent of the murder charges.

Former governor Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao denied involvement in the massacre and declared that he is innocent of the murder charges.

In an urgent motion, Zaldy asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to resolve his petition and clear him of the charges he is facing before Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221.

“Further delay of this case results to more days suffered by petitioner (Zaldy Ampatuan) in detention which amounts to an injustice as he has nothing to do with the alleged crimes imputed against him,” read the motion.

Zaldy is asking the CA to reinstate the April 16, 2010 resolution of the Department of Justice that evidence was insufficient to indict him for multiple murder.

Mangudadatu’s wife and sister were among those killed in the Maguindanao massacre.

“Attorney Fortun used and abused legal remedies available and allowed under the rules, muddled the issues and diverted the attention away from the main subject matter of the cases,” read the complaint.

“Attorney Fortun had astutely embarked on an untiring quest to obstruct, impede and degrade the administration of justice by filing countless ancillary motions and initiating suits based on imaginary causes of action, all in the hope of burying the principal issue of his clients’

participation or guilt in the murder of 57 people that ill-fated day of 23 November 2009.”

The complainants accused Fortun of violating Rules 1.01 and 1.02 of Canon 1 of Code of Professional Responsibility.

They said during Andal Jr.’s arraignment, Fortun told the court that his client could not understand English or Filipino, and could only speak and understand his native Maguindanaoan.

This claim was later disproved by media interviews of Andal Jr., they added.

The complainants also accused Fortun of violating Rules 10.01 and 10.02 of Canon 10 when he supposedly misled the court and the prosecution in deferring bail proceedings, only to file another motion seeking inhibition of the judge a week later.

“Respondent Attorney Fortun’s act of misleading the prosecution and trial court is a dishonest/deceitful conduct violative of Code of

Professional Responsibility,” read the complaint.

“In so doing, he diminished public confidence in the law and the legal profession, rendering him unfit to be called a member of the Bar.”

The complainants also raised before the SC Fortun’s alleged participation in the attempt to bribe state witness Chief Inspector Sukarno Adil Dicay.

Based on an affidavit executed last Oct. 27, Dicay said the lawyer was with the emissary of the Ampatuans who went to Camp Parang in Maguindanao last January and offered him P10 million to recant his testimony against Andal Jr.

“Not only did respondent Atty. Fortun commit a highly unethical act, he also committed serious misconduct and malpractice when he attempted to induce Dicay to change his statement and perjure himself by pointing to Rasul Sangki as the mastermind of the massacre, contrary to what he actually knows, and to lie about the whole incident that he personally witnessed,” read the complaint.

Joining Mangudadatu in the complaint were other relatives of victims Nenita Oquendo, Gemma Oquendo and Dennis Ayon.

Media group Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists also signed the complaint.

Accused ordered released, but authorities hesitant

An accused in the Maguindanao massacre has been ordered released by a court in Pasig.

However, jail authorities are in a quandary whether to release Datukan Malang Salibo because a Quezon City court had ordered his commitment.

Judge Briccio Ygaña of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 153 had granted the petition for habeas corpus of Salibo, who claimed that he was on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 23 last year.

He was mistaken for a suspect named Butukan Malang, he added.

Subido said police in Datu Hoffer town detained him when he went there to explain his side.

“Perhaps and probably because of the P250,000 reward,” he said.

The Pasig court granted Subido’s habeas corpus petition after he presented his passport and other evidence like the flight manifest of the airplane that he boarded.

“The petition is meritorious,” read Ygaña’s order.

“Petitioner was not in the country when the massacre took place. The arrest could not qualify as a warrantless arrest, hence, illegal from the very beginning.”

The Pasig court’s order, dated Oct. 29, was promulgated on Nov. 9.

Senior Inspector Emmanuel Tolentino, warden of the Quezon City Jail annex in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, wrote a letter to Quezon City RTC Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to clarify the release of Subido.

Solis-Reyes is handling the case of the Maguindanao massacre.

“As the committing authority and (the one who) has jurisdiction over Datukan Malang Salibo, this unit respectfully requests your honor to affirm/accredit the court order issued by Hon. Briccio Ygaña… or comment either to release him from detention or to restrain said inmate who is still detained in our unit for legal purposes,” read Tolentino’s letter received by Solis-Reyes’ staff on Nov. 12.

A staff member of Solis-Reyes said they were not furnished a copy of the Pasig City court’s order.

In response, Solis-Reyes wrote a letter to Tolentino on Nov. 15 and suggested that “proper coordination be made with the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) which is in the best position to advise you for legal implications of the appeal which it seasonably filed.”

“In deference to Hon. Briccio Ygaña… underscored deems it proper not to give further comment relative to your aforesaid letter,” read the letter of Solis-Reyes to Tolentino.

NPC wants special court for Maguindanao massacre

The National Press Club (NPC) asked the SC yesterday to designate Quezon City RTC Branch 221 under Judge Solis- Reyes a special court to try the Maguindanao massacre case.

“We believe this (creation of special court) would expedite the trial,” read the petition.

Joining the petition was Alyansa ng Filipinong Mamahayag. -- With Reinir Padua, Aie Balagtas See