Arraignment of Maguindanao massacre suspects set on Wednesday

MANILA, Philippines - The arraignment of seven of the accused in Maguindanao massacre, including four members of the Ampatuan clan, is set on Wednesday during trial proceedings at a makeshift court inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City.

Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes ordered the separate arraignment of Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan, Sajid Islam Ampatuan, Anwar “Ipi” Ampatuan, and Anwar Sajid “Ulo” Ampatuan which was scheduled last month.

Also set to be arraigned are Kasim Lingkong, Sahid Guiamadil and recently arrested Mama Habib. The seven will be the 97th to 103rd suspects who will be arraigned for the multiple murder case.

If their arraignment pushes through, only two arrested suspects have not been arraigned for the massacre: Talembo Masukat, who claims to be a victim of mistaken identity, and backhoe operator Bong Andal.

A total of 107 out of 197 suspects in the 2009 massacre are in custody. Of that list, two – PO1 Johann Draper and state witness Sukarno Badal – will not be arraigned as the charges against them have been dropped.

One of the arraigned, PO2 Hernanie Decipulo, died in February 2012 after he allegedly jumped off the roof of his detention facility in Bicutan.

The arraignment of Akmad and Sajid Islam, on the other hand, are expected to proceed on Wednesday after the court deferred their arraignment “for the last time” last month.

The Supreme Court also denied last week the petition of Akmad to defer his arraignment.

Meanwhile, Ipi and Ulo are asking the court to postpone their arraignment pending the resolution of their motion for reconsideration.

The two are seeking the reversal of an earlier court order that denied their move to dismiss the charges against them.

Akmad is the nephew and son-in-law of former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., while Sajid Islam is the son of the clan patriarch.

Ipi and Ulo are Andal Sr.’s grandsons by his son Andal Jr., who is also an accused in the massacre.

Dubbed by the Committee to Protect Journalists as the single deadliest event for journalists in world history, the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre claimed the lives of 58 people – including at least 32 media practitioners – who were part of a convoy led by the wife of then-Buluan vice-mayor and now Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu.

Accompanied by journalists, lawyers, aides and family members who were mostly female, Mangudadatu’s wife Genalyn was on her way to file the certificate of candidacy of her husband, who was set to challenge a scion of the Ampatuan clan for the Maguindanao gubernatorial post.

While en route to the Commission on Elections provincial office in Shariff Aguak, the group was waylaid and murdered by alleged members of the Ampatuan clan’s private army.

A total of 197 suspects were initially implicated in the massacre, including members of the Ampatuan clan. The Ampatuans denied involvement in the incident.

Ninety suspects have yet to be arrested by authorities.