2 more Maguindanao massacre suspects arraigned

MANILA, Philippines - Two more suspects in the Nov. 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre were arraigned yesterday.

Suspects Manny Ampatuan and Maot Bangkulat pleaded “not guilty” to 58 counts of murder before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221.

The two were among the initial 197 suspects implicated in the massacre. They were the 91st and 92nd suspects arraigned for the incident, which claimed the lives of 58 people, including 32 media practitioners.

Ampatuan, reportedly a distant nephew of former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., was ordered arraigned after Solis-Reyes denied for lack of merit his omnibus motion for reinvestigation. The elder Ampatuan, one of the principal suspects in the massacre, has denied the charges.

Bangkulat, meanwhile, was arraigned a week after he was arrested in Maguindanao by elements of the Philippine National Police – Regional Intelligence Unit in the province. He was the 105th suspect arrested for the massacre.