Defense: No proof Zaldy participated in massacre

MANILA, Philippines - There is no evidence that would link former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy Ampatuan to the Maguindanao massacre, according to a defense lawyer.

In a 10-page motion released to the media yesterday, Marcial Ferrer Lopez asked Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 to allow Ampatuan to post bail as the basis for his inclusion in the charge sheet has no merit.

Citing an earlier resolution of former Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary Alberto Agra, Lopez said that it has been established that Ampatuan was not in Maguindanao when the massacre happened on Nov. 23, 2009.

He also cited documents showing that the former governor was in Davao from Nov. 20 to 23, 2009, contradicting the claim of prosecution witness Kenny Dalandag who said Ampatuan was present during the clan meeting held in Shariff Aguak the day before the massacre.

“The averment of ‘conspiracy’ based on the sole uncorroborated affidavit of prosecution witness Kenny Dalandag was greatly outweighed by the (other) documentary evidence. Allegations sans proof deserve ‘no merit,’” Lopez said.

The motion for bail, however, did not address the testimony of former Ampatuan helper Lakmodin Saliao, who testified that the former governor was present in the clan meeting.

In his motion, Lopez also cited various tickets and boarding passes showing Ampatuan’s supposed whereabouts prior to and during the incident.

The lawyer admitted that while defense of alibi is seen as inherently weak and can be fabricated, the complainants must still rely on the strength of their evidence to convict the accused.

He added that Ampatuan’s relationship with principal accused former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. “does not imply conspiracy and cannot justify the indictment” of Zaldy.

Lopez also claimed that media and public outrage cannot be seen as a reason for the “sweeping and senseless” indictment of Zaldy.

He cited a newspaper article saying that Agra reversed his decision to drop Zaldy from the charge sheet because of “public condemnation, a hostile media reaction, and the so-called ‘mutiny’ by members of the DOJ’s panel of prosecutors.”

He said that an accused could not be convicted if his guilt could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Lopez’s motion was the second bail petition filed in behalf of Zaldy. Days after the former governor’s arraignment in December, his legal counsel Philip Sigfrid Fortun immediately filed a two-page motion asking the court to allow him to post bail.

Zaldy and Andal Jr. are among initial 197 suspects tagged in the massacre which claimed the lives of 58 people, including at least 32 media practitioners.