MANILA, Philippines - Former governor Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao pleaded not guilty to 58 counts of murder during arraignment on the three-year-old Maguindanao massacre yesterday.
The arraignment was held in a courtroom of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court within the Quezon City Jail Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig.
The charges were read to Ampatuan in English, unlike his father and brother, who were arraigned in Maguindanaoan.
Ampatuan said: “I’d like to give my lawyer Attorney Fortun the all out decision...(sic),” when the court asked for his plea.
Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Quezon City RTC Branch 221 interrupted Ampatuan before he could finish his sentence and asked for his plea.
“Not guilty your honor,” Ampatuan said in a hoarse voice.
Ampatuan then went back to his bench and smirked before sitting down.
Defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun asked Solis-Reyes if his client could leave the courtroom.
At 9:40 a.m., Solis-Reyes called Ampatuan, and Fortun asked the judge to remind the gallery “to keep silent” during and after Ampatuan enters his plea.
Fortun said he does not want a repeat of the June 2011 incident, when the gallery booed Andal Ampatuan Sr. after entering a not guilty plea.
“They will not say anything,” Solis-Reyes said. “They know what to do, counsel.”
Chewing on gum when he arrived, Ampatuan looked a lot thinner, compared to when he was arrested in 2010.
Ampatuan wore sunglasses, a yellow polo shirt, denims, black boat shoes, and a gray “pulbos” - a traditional Muslim prayer cap.
He sat on the front bench at the right side of the courtroom, with four guards beside him.
He was the only inmate to occupy that bench. The other inmates were cramped at the back.
Jail guards escorted him to the courtroom at about 9:25 a.m.
He is the third member of the Ampatuan clan to be arraigned in the Maguindanao massacre case.
The two others are his father, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.; and brother Andal Ampatuan Jr. Both accused also pleaded not guilty.
Relatives of the massacre victims flocked to the court to witness Ampatuan enter his plea.
They looked at him as he was whisked to his seat. Most of them wore white shirts demanding justice for their kin.
Ampatuan and Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu exchanged “bitter looks” before Ampatuan left and returned to his cell.
Mangudadatu lost his wife, sisters, and supporters in the Maguindanao massacre.
Suspect wants to change cells
Another suspect, police Superintendent Abdulwahid Pedtucasan has asked the court to transfer him to a less congested detention cell and to allow him to undergo medical examination at a government medical facility.
In a motion, defense lawyer March Jefferson Fernandez said Pedtucasan’s heart problem and asthma are worsening as his detention cell at the Quezon City Jail-Annex is “congested and overcrowded.” - With Janvic Mateo