Andal Sr., son to be arraigned for 58th victim’s murder

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City court handling the 2009 Maguindanao massacre trial has ordered the arraignment of former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.; his son, former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan; and 76 other detained suspects for the murder charge filed in connection with the alleged death of a 58th massacre victim.

In a five-page order, Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes said there was probable cause to support the charge against the suspects for the murder of photojournalist Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay. She set the arraignment Wednesday morning at the makeshift court in the Quezon City Jail-Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa.

The order for the arraignment of the suspects for the 58th murder charge came after the relatives of the victims commemorated on Thursday the 42nd month since the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre.

Media groups lit candles and mounted a photo exhibit at the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. John in Quezon City.

Meanwhile, the judge deferred the arraignment of those who have unresolved motions, including that of former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and five other members of the Ampatuan clan.

In her order, Solis-Reyes also dismissed the 58th murder charge against Police Officer 1 Johann Draper, who was earlier released from detention after the court dropped for lack of merit the charges implicating him in the massacre.

She also ordered the issuance of another set of arrest warrants for the 92 suspects who have yet to be arrested by authorities.

The order came after the prosecution panel manifested that they will not withdraw the case filed for the death of Momay.

Last year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) found probable cause to file another set of murder charges against the initial 197 suspects tagged in the massacre.

The remains of Momay – a photojournalist for the Midland Review, a local newspaper – were never found. A team led by a forensic expert from the Commission on Human Rights recovered parts of the photojournalist’s supposed dentures.

Momay’s daughter, Reynafe, claimed in her complaint that her father had called a colleague before the incident and said that he was in the van together with other media people.

The DOJ, in its resolution, said that even “though Momay’s body was not found at the killing fields located at Barangay Salman, Ampatuan, Maguindanao, there is sufficient evidence that he was indeed part of the ill-fated convoy.”

The prosecution panel earlier manifested that they would withdraw the 58th information due to discrepancies in the list of the accused indicted in the charge.

But in a motion filed in January, lead prosecutor Archimedes Manabat said they would not withdraw the case due to the pending motions for reconsideration filed by some suspects before the DOJ.

“The filing of a motion for reconsideration forms part of the process of preliminary investigation, and thus, the motions filed by (some) accused should first be disposed of or resolved,” read the motion.