Fiscals push Anwar’s arraignment

MANILA, Philippines - Noting that there are no more legal obstacles blocking his arraignment, prosecutors handling the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre case urged a Quezon City court to finally arraign one of Andal Ampatuan Sr.’s sons.

In a four-page pleading, Senior State Prosecutor Archimedes Manabat said the Court of Appeals (CA) and the Supreme Court (SC) had already affirmed the Department of Justice’s ruling of probable cause to charge Anwar Ampatuan with multiple murder.

“For the wheels of justice to start running, accused should now be arraigned to allow him to finally face the evidence against him head-on during the trial on the merits,” it said.

The prosecution panel pointed out that Anwar has been detained and “such overdue arraignment, under the rules, clearly a foregone conclusion.”

Anwar, a former mayor of Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao, is a son of former Maguindanao governor Andal Sr. He is the brother of other accused Zaldy and Andal Jr.