Ampatuan son posts P11.6-M bail, remains in jail

MANILA, Philippines - Former Maguindanao officer-in-charge Sajid Islam Ampatuan has posted P11.6 million bail but court records show he has to remain in jail pending the resolution of an appeal against his bail petition.

Last week, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes issued an order confirming the receipt of the personal bail bonds filed by Ampatuan. However, she deferred his release in view of a motion for reconsideration filed by the prosecution panel on her earlier order that granted the bail plea of the suspect.

Ampatuan, son of clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., was allowed to post bail last month after the court found that the evidence presented against him by the prosecution panel was weak.

Citing the testimonies of witnesses, Solis-Reyes said the suspect was present in the clan meetings but was silent while the massacre was supposedly being planned.

But in its motion for reconsideration, the prosecution panel insisted that Ampatuan played a major role in the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre.

Ampatuan’s lawyer, Gregorio Marquez, said provincial government records show that his client only assumed governorship of the province from Jan. 26 to Oct. 10, 2009 and his father assumed the post starting Oct. 11, 2009.