Maguindanao massacre verdict: Zaldy Ampatuan, Andal Jr. found guilty of murder

MANILA, Philippines (Update 4, 12:20 p.m.) — More than a decade since 58 people were killed in the worst case of election-related violence in Philippine history, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 found Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr. and his brother Zaldy Ampatuan guilty. They are sentenced to reclusion perpetua without parole.

The following are the principal accused who were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of committing 57 counts of murder. Police said 58 people were killed in the 2009 massacre but the body of the 58th victim was never found.

1. Datu Andal Unsay Ampatuan Jr.
2. Datu Anwar Sajid Ulo Ampatuan
3. Datu Anwar Ipi Ampatuan Jr.
4. Saudi Mokamad (PINsp)
5. Jonathan Engid (PO1)
6. Abedin Alamada alias Kumander Bedi
7. Talembo "Tammy" Masukat
8. Theng Sali alias Abdullah Hamad Abdulkahar
9. Manny Ampatuan
10. Nasser Esmael alias Nasrudin Esmael
11. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan
12. Sukarno Dicay (PCI)
13. Abusama Mundas Maguid (PSupt)
14. Bahnarin Kamaong (PSupt)
15. Datu Anwar Ampatuan Sr.
16. Tato Tampogao
17. Mohades Ampatuan
18. Mohamad Datumanong
19. Misuari Ampatuan
20. Taya Bangkulat
21. Salik Bangkulat
22. Thong Guiamano
23. Sonny Pindi
24. Armando Ambalgan
25. Kudza Masukat Uguia
26. Edres Kasan
27. Zacaria Akil
28. Samaon Andatuan

Also found guilty as accessories were more than a dozen who were police officers at the time of the massacre. 

The court sentenced the following to imprisonment of from six years to 10 years and eight months: 

1. Michael Joy Macaraeg (PInsp)
2. Felix Enate (PO3)
3. Abibudin Abdulgani (PO3)
4. Rasid Anton (PO3)
5. Hamad Nana (PO2)
6. Saudi Pasutan (PO2)
7. Saudiar Ulah (PO2)
8. Esprielito Lejarso (PO1)
9. Narkouk Mascud (PO1)
10. Pia Kamidon (PO1)
11. Esmael Guialal (PO1)
12. Arnulfo Soriano (PO1)
13. Herich Amaba (PO1)
14. Abdulgapor Abad (PSupt)
15. Bong Andal

"Finally, justice has been served," Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in a statement to reporters. 

"We of course know that the principal accused here has been convicted but some of the accused have been acquited. This is something that the prosecution has more or less anticipated," he also said. 

"We're happy with the decision of the court. We trust that the judge has very extensively examined the evidence and we trust in her impartiality in her rendition of this very important judgment," he said as he acknowledged the "tireless effort" of government and private prosecutors in working towards the long-awaited verdict.

Bloodiest case of electoral violence

Members of the Ampatuan political clan are among the over 100 individuals who were tried for the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre, when relatives of then Maguindanao gubernatorial candidate Esmael Mangudadatu and a convoy of 32 journalists were stopped and executed by gunmen.

Meanwhile, The court acquitted two other members of the powerful Ampatuan clan: Datu Akmad "Tato" Ampatuan Sr. and Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan.

The bodies of the victims were found buried in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province.

Reacting to the verdict, Human Rights Watch said it would "help provide justice to the families of the victims, and build toward greater accountability for rights abuses in the country."

HRW deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said that advocates should use the verdict to push for political and judicial reforms to end the culture of impunity in the Philippines,

"More broadly, this verdict should prompt the country's political leaders to finally act to end state support for 'private armies' and militias that promotes the political warlordism that gave rise to the Ampatuans," he also said.

Arrest and trial

The massacre prompted then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to declare a state of emergency in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces and in Cotabato City on November 24 to "prevent and suppress the occurrence of similar other incidents of lawless violence."

Martial law was declared in parts of Maguindanao on December 4 and lifted on December 12 as members of the Ampatuan clan, Arroyo's political allies, were taken into custody.

Andal Jr. and Zaldy are the primary accused in the case and are in government custody. Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan was allowed to post bail in 2015.

The trial, which began in January 2010, included 134 witnesses for the prosecution, with key witnesses telling the court "they heard the Ampatuans plan the killing as early as July 2009, and as late as November 19, 2009, or just four days before the massacre," according to a briefer by the Freedom for Media, Freedom for All coalition.

Prosecution witnesses also said they saw Datu Unsay (Andal Jr.) kill the victims and order his men to "hurry up" in burying the bodies, which were later found in a mass grave in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao.

The defense, meanwhile, presented witnesses from the Ampatuan municipal government who testified that Datu Unsay was in a meeting at the municipal hall during the time of the massacre. Datu Unsay also testified that he was not at the massacre site when it happened.

The defense also said that no forensic evidence was presented to directly link Datu Unsay to the killings.

Delays

The case suffered delays from the sheer number of people and records involved and from procedural requirements like bail hearings for 70 of the detained suspects.

"It was only on May 30, 2017, seven years after the trial began, that Judge [Jocelyn] Solis-Reyes denied Datu Unsay's petition for bail," FMFA said in its briefer, adding Judge Solis-Reyes also had to face nine motions for her to recuse herself from the trial.

"The numerous motions for reconsideration, the time given for the defendants to find new lawyers, as well as 'delaying tactics of the defense', tied up the case during the last three years," FMFA said.

The case was submitted for decision on August 22 and a verdict was expected in November, in time for the tenth year since the massacre. Judge Solis-Reyes the Supreme Court for 30 more days, however, citing the "voluminous records" in the case.

After years of hearings, the judge had to go through 165 volumes of records on the trial, 65 volumes of stenographic notes, eight volumes of the prosecution's documentary evidence, and the testimony of 357 witnesses.

As the trial the Regional Trial Court comes to a close, the case could go on longer before the verdict becomes final and executory at the Supreme Court. — with Patricia Lourdes Viray