YEARENDER: Massacre trial moves forward (Second of 2 parts)

Read Part 1 here

Significant developments marked the fifth year of the trial for the death of 58 people, including 32 media practitioners, in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009.

During the past year, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes started resolving the bail petitions of some of the accused charged with the massacre.

Days before the anniversary, the judge issued a joint order that denied the bail plea of suspect Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay, deputy officer-in-charge of the Maguindanao provincial police office at the time of the massacre.

The ruling on Dicay’s bail petition came on the heels of joint orders that granted the bail petition of 41 police officers charged for the massacre.

None of those granted bail were able to post the P11.6 million bond set by the court.

The camp of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan has also rested its case on the bail petition, while the judge is set to resolve the bail pleas of Andal Sr. and the other accused Ampatuans.

Meanwhile, the camp of primary suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. will start presenting evidence for his bail petition by next year.

With the recent developments, a private prosecutor in the multiple murder case, who previously predicted that the trial may run for another 16 years, expressed confidence that there will be a partial promulgation of judgment against some of the accused next year.

“We are pushing for a promulgation of judgment against the Ampatuan clan and the shooters,” said lawyer Harry Roque, who represents relatives of some of the media practitioners slain in the massacre.

“It is safe to say that we can have promulgation of judgment against the three primary suspects,” Roque said, referring to former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his sons Andal Jr. and Zaldy.

Solis-Reyes, meanwhile, said she is still hopeful that there will be a partial promulgation of ruling before the end of 2016.

Issues

Controversies, on both sides of the fence, have hounded the massacre trial in 2014.

In August, top defense lawyers – the Fortun Narvasa & Salazar (FNS) law firm; Andres Manuel; and the Real Brotarlo & Real law firm – withdrew from the case without stating a reason.

The move left more than two dozen suspects, including Andal Sr., without lawyers for at least a month. The Abbas law firm took over the case for the clan patriarch and some of the suspects surnamed Ampatuans.

On the part of the prosecution, a divide between some of the private prosecutors and the rest of the panel prompted Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to take over the supervision of the case from Undersecretary Francisco Baraan.

Baraan, along with other public prosecutors, were accused of receiving bribes from the Ampatuans. They denied the allegations.

15 Ampatuans, 69 others still wanted

Based on court records, only 113 of the 197 suspects charged for the massacre have been arrested five years after the incident. Among the 84 missing are 15 surnamed Ampatuans.

Leading the list of at-large suspects is Datu Kanor Ampatuan, brother of detained clan patriarch former Maguindanao governor Andal Sr. Also wanted are Kanor’s son Datu Mama and Andal Sr.’s grandsons Bahnarin and Saudi Jr.

Other suspects surnamed Ampatuan who have yet to be arrested include Datu Harris, Datu Moning, Datu Norodin, Tony Kenis, and Kagi Amar.

All nine each have a P300,000 reward for their arrest, according to the wanted poster released by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDG).

The remaining six – Datu Dainga, Alnor, Rodel, Kertz, Intan, and Mohamad – each have a P250,000 reward for any information that would lead to their arrest.

Based on the CIDG wanted poster, other suspects who each have a P300,000 reward for their capture include Jun Pendatun, Nasser Adam, Alfie Pagabangan, Parido Zangkala Gogo, Mogira Hadji Anggulat, Hamid Delayudin, and Kagi Faizal.

The rest of the missing suspects each have a P250,000 reward for their capture.

Of the 113 arrested, charges against three suspects have been dropped. One of the three suspects died after allegedly jumping off the roof of his detention facility in 2012.