Mangudadatu: Trust in court intact despite Ampatuan bail

MANILA, Philippines - Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu still believes in the impartiality of the court handling the Maguindanao massacre case despite an order allowing one of the accused Ampatuans to post bail.

“Trial must go on,” Mangudadatu, whose wife and sisters were among those who died in the bloodbath, said in a text message to The STAR yesterday.

“We believe in the integrity, honesty, fairness and credibility of the court,” he added.

Earlier, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 granted the bail plea of former Maguindanao officer-in-charge Sajid Islam Ampatuan. He is the son of clan patriarch and former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.

Ampatuan was released from detention Monday night after posting the P11.6 million surety bond set by the court.

He was the first defendant freed on bail after more than five years in detention at the Quezon City Jail Annex at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig.

According to Mangudadatu, the court’s decision allowing the accused to post bail does not mean an acquittal.

Mangudadatu’s lawyer, Nena Santos, said they would present additional witnesses to strengthen their case against Ampatuan and the other members of the clan tagged as the masterminds of the massacre.

In her order allowing the release of Ampatuan, Solis-Reyes said the prosecution panel failed to establish strong evidence of guilt against the suspect.

Citing testimonies of witnesses, the judge noted that the suspect was merely present at the meetings prior to the Maguindanao massacre.

“Taking into consideration his silence and non-participation, notwithstanding the fact that he gave P2,000 to a witness for the latter to buy fish, the court finds, in its exercise of sound discretion, that the totality of the circumstances fails to reach the threshold of strong evidence of guilt,” read the order.

Solis-Reyes, however, reiterated that the court ruling on the bail petition of the defendant is not related to a finding of guilt or innocence, which would be established in a court trial.

The prosecution argued that the mere presence of Ampatuan at the meetings showed that he was part of the conspiracy to commit a crime.

In its appeal, the prosecution said that Ampatuan was the acting governor of Maguindanao when the massacre happened on Nov. 23, 2009.

The prosecutors said that he played a major role in the massacre since he did not oppose the deployment of hundreds of police officers and the use of a backhoe to bury the victims.

But the suspect’s lawyer, Gregorio Marquez, argued that his client ended his stint as officer-in-charge a month before the massacre.

Mangudadatu’s wife, Genalyn, led the convoy that was stopped and ambushed by more than a hundred men on Nov. 23, 2009 in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao.

She was supposed to file the certificate of candidacy of her husband, who was set to challenge Sajid Islam’s brother Andar Jr. for the gubernatorial post.

A total of 58 people, including 32 media practitioners, died in the massacre.