Fiscals slam more hearings for Maguindanao massacre case

MANILA, Philippines - A proposal by the judge to increase the frequency of hearings for the Maguindanao massacre case will negatively affect the presentation of witnesses in the trial, which has reached nearly two years, two government lawyers said yesterday.

Assistant Regional State Prosecutor Peter Medalle and Assistant Prosecutor Nestor Lazaro said additional trial dates would mean more witnesses to take the stand. Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes proposed increasing the hearings to thrice a week from the current setup of twice a week. She said she is willing to hold Monday hearings for the private complainants (the family of the massacre victims) just so the prosecution can present more eyewitnesses during the scheduled Wednesday and Thursday hearings.

“The preparation of the witnesses is not easy. Sometimes it takes us two months just to prepare one witness because some of them do not understand Tagalog. We even have to get interpreters just so we can speak to them,” Medalle said.

Lazaro added that most of their witnesses are from Mindanao and many of them are farmers. “It’s not easy to locate them,” Lazaro said, “and when you have, the next problem is to convince them that it safe for them to testify.”

Once the witness agrees, the prosecution will have to secure them, pay their fare, and house them. “There are no funds to cover logistics,” Medalle said.

Aside from securing the witnesses, the two state prosecutors also said that additional trial dates would prevent them from focusing on their other cases.

Medalle and Lazaro mostly handle cases involving national security, like the Sipadan hostage crisis, Dos Palmas hostage taking, several Mindanao bombings, the Koronadal kidnapping, and the murder of journalist Marlene Esperat, among others.

The prosecution panel – composed of private and state lawyers – has yet to meet, said Medalle, because some of its members are attending other court hearings.