State of emergency in Maguindanao stays in place

MANILA, Philippines - Three years after the Maguindanao massacre, the state of emergency in Maguindanao remains in place, with the government saying it is part of the commitment to bring justice to the victims.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda also sought to allay fears that the Aquino administration was allowing the Ampatuan clan – some of whose members were accused of perpetrating the massacre three years ago today – to reign in Mindanao despite what happened.

Then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed the province of Maguindanao under martial law on Dec. 5, 2009, days after the Maguindanao massacre on Nov. 23.

Arroyo, however, lifted  martial law a few days later but still placed the province under a state of emergency.

Lacierda said the common consensus of the local government leaders was to maintain the state of emergency to ensure peace and order in the area, especially during the coming elections.

He said Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II already identified Maguindanao as one of 15 provinces in the priority election watch list.

Lacierda also said they had met with the families of the victims and their commitments were still the same.

“They had concerns, for instance, on safety issues. The President, in that meeting, immediately called up the necessary security officers/officials in Maguindanao. (The late interior) Secretary Jesse Robredo was there at that time. In fact, their commitments are still there. If there are any issues on safety, if there are any issues on security, just call us up and we will provide the necessary assistance,” Lacierda said. “As to the others, in terms of hastening or expediting the judicial process, we have time and again made our plea to the judiciary to expedite the process without, of course, sacrificing due process,” he said.

“Hopefully,” Lacierda said, with the appointment of former University of the Philippines College of Law dean Marvic Leonen as Supreme Court associate justice, the high tribunal could find a way to answer the plea of the massacre victims.

“We understand totally... and we certainly know that as long as the case remains unresolved, as long as the case has not yet been decided, there will always be concerns, and we share the same concerns as with the massacre victims,” he added.

Lacierda said Leonen had always been concerned over the issue and “is also one of the leading lights in terms of expediting court cases.”

“And being a former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law and also a member of the Philippine Judicial Academy, if I’m not mistaken, they have identified areas of reform in judicial (and) criminal procedure. We hope that he can provide and also contribute to means where we can expedite the criminal cases in general, and the Maguindanao massacre case in particular,” Lacierda said.

Expeditiously

Lacierda said it would be up to the SC to decide on whether a special court should handle the Maguindanao massacre case.

“The Supreme Court already has created special court for heinous crimes. The Maguindanao massacre trial or case is a heinous crime case. The judge there, (Quezon City) Judge (Jocelyn) Solis (Reyes), again, my understanding is she has devoted her time to finishing the case,” Lacierda said.

He said Malacañang would have no control over the pace of the case because it would be up to the litigants.

“Of course, the prosecution wants to finish it expeditiously. The defense, we saw there were technicalities, in fact there’s even a case before the (Court of Appeals) now. So we hope that all the peripheral issues regarding the massacre would be resolved by the judiciary in the most expeditious time,” Lacierda said.

The court handling the massacre case has yet to schedule the arraignment of one of the principal accused, former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy Ampatuan.

Aside from Zaldy, the arraignment of Akmad, Sajid Islam, and Sajid Anwar Upam – all surnamed Ampatuan – has yet to be scheduled as well.

Based on the records of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221, only 81 of the 98 arrested massacre suspects have been arraigned.

A total of 196 people are implicated in the massacre that was touted by the Committee to Protect Journalists as the single deadliest event for journalists in history.

Earlier this year, one of the suspects – Police Officer 2 Hernanie Decipulo Jr. – committed suicide by jumping off the roof of his four-story prison in Quezon City Jail Annex at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

A total of 57 suspects, including Decipulo, have filed petitions for bail that are currently being heard by Judge Reyes.

Among those who filed were former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his son, former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Jr.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) admitted the progress of the case in Quezon City regional trial court has been slow and pointed the blame at what it described as “dilatory tactics” employed by the accused and their defense lawyers.

“What they (defense) are doing has been the problem – their penchant for dilatory tactics by questioning certain rulings of the trial court regarding certain witnesses that the prosecution wants to present through petitions in Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.

De Lima cited for instance the delay in the presentation of key witness Kenny Dalandag in the trial due to objections of lawyers of Ampatuan Jr. and others.

Because of these tactics, De Lima said the prosecution is often constrained to present “less vital” witnesses.

But she defended the panel of government and private prosecutors, saying they have been doing what has to be done in speeding up resolution of the case.

“There’s no need to add more prosecutors because the panel has no shortcomings. They’re doing their tasks well. They have been prepared for hearings,” she said.

The Supreme Court also confirmed the dilatory tactics employed causing the delay in the case. “Considering the unique and unprecedented nature of this case, and the volume of the work still to be done, the speedy disposition depends on the cooperation of all the parties and actors involved,” the high court said in a statement.

On the eve of the third anniversary of the massacre, the SC issued latest updates based on its regular monitoring of the case.

A total of 264 hearings had been conducted since the start of proceedings on Jan. 5, 2010.

“Excluding oral motions, 307 motions and other matters have been filed or raised, of which 204 have been resolved. As a result of these motions, 447 comments, oppositions, rejoinders, sur-rejoinders and manifestations have been additionally filed. To date, the records of the case have reached 48 volumes,” the SC reported.

Melai Pinlac of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) said that the arraignment of some massacre suspects, particularly of Zaldy, was delayed because of “judicial courtesy.”

Judge Reyes decided to defer the arraignment pending the decision of the CA and the SC on some motions filed by the accused.

On the other hand, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said they would assist the Philippine National Police in hunting down 92 other suspects in the massacre, said Director Samuel Pagdilao Jr., chief of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

Pagdilao hopes that the MILF as well as local government leaders like Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu can help the CIDG in the conduct of operational research in order to come up with an updated and true list of the remaining suspects that are subject of warrants of arrest.

On the Ampatuans running

Lacierda said Mangudadatu had spoken and explained that those surnamed Ampatuan did not necessarily “share the same brand of politics that the patriarch espoused,” referring to Andal Sr., one of the principal accused.

He said Mangudadatu, whose wife and other relatives were among those killed, would not have accepted the Ampatuans with the same beliefs as those who allegedly committed the massacre.

Lacierda said with the framework agreement with the MILF and the new Transition Commission and Bangsamoro entity, reforms would be undertaken in Mindanao.

“And right now, under the leadership of Governor Mujiv Hataman, we have seen a number of reforms already in place in the ARMM. We’ve seen a number of ghost teachers, ghost schools, ghost roads being removed and we’ve seen reforms being undertaken in clear, visible, tangible manifestations. So there are reforms being undertaken right now by the current leadership of the ARMM and also by the specific governors in the region,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda, however, said despite the statements of Mangudadatu, it would still be up to the ruling Liberal Party to decide on the candidates they would field as Sen. Franklin Drilon, one of the party stalwarts, did not want the Ampatuans to be part of the administration party.

“Senator Drilon is one of the officials so definitely, they will be in a position to decide that and again we leave it with the Liberal Party (LP) to decide if they want to remove them. It’s their decision in the first place,” Lacierda said. – Janvic Mateo, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Christina Mendez, Sheila Crisostomo, Edu Punay