Media group hits bail grant for Ampatuan son

MANILA, Philippines - The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has criticized the ruling of a Quezon City judge who granted the bail petition of an Ampatuan charged for the Nov. 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

In a statement issued yesterday, the NUJP described as “appalling” the order of the Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes that granted the bail plea of Sajid Islam Ampatuan, son of former Maguindanao governor and clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr.

In a 12-page omnibus court order, Solis-Reyes allowed Sajid Islam temporary liberty in exchange of P200,000 per murder count or a total of P11.6 million for the 58 counts filed against him.

The suspect has yet to post the bail as of yesterday afternoon.

The same order denied the bail petition of Anwar Ampatuan Sr. and Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan, son and son-in-law, respectively, of the Ampatuan clan patriarch.

According to the judge, the prosecution panel has failed to establish strong evidence that would warrant the continued detention of Sajid Islam while the trial is ongoing.

Citing the testimonies of witnesses, the judge said the suspect was merely present in the meetings but did not utter any word while the massacre was being planned.

‘Silence is consent’

But according to NUJP, it is incredulous that a key member of the clan who was present in the meeting had been allowed to post bail.

“These meetings were basically clan councils in which, as is common in Filipino culture, silence means consent,” said the NUJP.

“It is stretching credulity to think that Sajid Islam, who was then acting Maguindanao governor, had absolutely no participation in the planning and execution of what was obviously a major operation in his domain, involving a veritable army of retainers and police personnel,” the group added.

The media group also expressed dismay over the judge’s observation that the prosecution panel failed to establish Sajid Islam’s guilt.

The NUJP called on Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to make good on her word that she will pursue the prosecution of suspects in high-profile cases, including the Maguindanao massacre case.

Private prosecutor Nena Santos earlier told The STAR that they would appeal the court ruling. She noted the testimony of a new witness, who said Sajid Islam took part in checking the checkpoints where the victims were stopped by a group of armed men. – With Artemio Dumlao